It's Time for The Department of Education to Stop Destroying the Dreams of the Next Generation

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” —Nelson Mandela

In a video that garnered nearly 2,000,000 views across social platforms, Howard University Dental School student Darian Bogie told his followers how the Big Beautiful Bill, and its new caps on graduate school loans, pushed him out of his dental program. 

Due to the reach of his story, Bogie was able to surpass his $66,000 fundraising goal on GoFundMe. But for millions of others, the decision is more dire.

On July 1st, just over a year after the Big Ugly Bill gutted key government programs to fund tax cuts for the richest among us, the Department of Education issued its new student loan guidance. Under them, the Graduate PLUS, financial aid with higher loan limits to help students pursuing graduate and professional degrees, were eliminated. And new student loan caps took effect that in many cases do not cover the cost of attendance for millions of students. The result is more students either dropping out of college or unable to attend at all.

It’s no secret that Black students leverage student loans more than their peers from White families. It’s also no secret that the largest growing population of young people attending college are Black. And make no mistake, it is no coincidence that under this administration, this year, education is becoming further out of reach. 

For many, critics of higher education have blamed universities for raising their tuition and fees to figures that have ballooned the federal deficit and left millions burdened with debt that they will never be able to repay. 

But the solution to skyrocketing student debt shouldn’t be to punish students pursuing a better life. And neither is threatening to strip schools of much needed federal dollars for having diversity pipeline initiatives like this administration is actively trying to do. A discriminatory action that already follows illegal cuts to NIH research funding that that universities, from Harvard to Stanford, have sued to stop.

No student should have their dreams deferred because the government would rather finance the dreams of the rich than support them on their education journey. 

And the federal government should not be allowed to tell someone the value of their dream by denying access to loans because of their major. In the latest slap in the face to America, the Department of Education released a list of college majors that it proposes cutting student loans that it deems “don’t pay off.”

One of which is social work; a growing field that addresses the fallout of growing wealth inequality in our country and the spiking mental health crisis. 

In short, the Department of Education not only believes solving our greatest social and societal issues doesn’t pay off, by cutting access to jobs that pay a living wage it’s also creating an enviroment that contributes to them.

If education is our tool to change the world, then we need it more than ever in this rapidly changing economy, ecosystem, and geopolitical climate. And it is clear that the Department of Education in this current administration is either blithly unaware of that fact, or intentionally a role in limiting the earning potential and economic freedom of millions of Americans.

The National Urban League make a commitment through our programs, like Project Ready, to ensure that all students have an education the prepares them for college, work, and life. Now we’re pushing for the Department of Education to do the same by removing these discriminatory caps on student loans, restoring funding to institutions of higher learning, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and letting students decide what field of study is “worth it.”

 
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