(And Should Parents Like Us Be Worried?)

If you’ve seen recent headlines about dismantling the U.S. Department of Education (DoE), you’re probably wondering what that could mean for your child’s financial aid—especially if you will depend on Pell Grants or federal student loans to make college more affordable. 

As a fellow parent navigating this process, I totally get it. So let’s walk through what’s going on, what the Department of Education actually does, and—most importantly—what this means for you and your student.

A Quick History Lesson (Stay With Me—It's Not Boring and is Relevant!) 

The Department of Education is a relatively new agency. It became a Cabinet-level department in 1980 when Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act. The goal was to combine different federal education programs under one roof and improve how funding and policy were managed.

When the Department was created, Congress gave it a clear mission:

•  Ensure equal access to education for all
•  Support, not replace, local and state efforts to improve education
•  Encourage more public and parent involvement in education programs
•  Promote improvements through research, data, and evaluation 
•  Make federal programs easier to manage and less burdensome for schools
•  Increase accountability to the public and to Congress

But the roots of the Department go way back to 1867, when it was first formed to simply collect and report education statistics. It was downgraded a year later out of concern that the federal government might gain too much control over local schools—a debate that’s been around for over 150 years. History has a way of repeating itself!

Fast-forward to the 1950s and ’60s, and we start to see massive growth in federal education funding, especially after events like the launch of Sputnik (which sparked more science and math funding) and President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, which expanded programs to help low-income students succeed.

Eventually, those growing efforts were consolidated into the Department of Education we know today.

But Here’s the Big Point… 

Even with all this federal involvement, programs like Pell Grants and student loans were already in place before the Department of Education existed. 

• Pell Grants (originally called Basic Educational Opportunity Grants) were created in 1972 to help lower-income students afford college.
• Federal student loans were introduced through the Higher Education Act of 1965, giving students access to loans with government backing.

At the time, these programs were managed by the Office of Education within the old Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

In other words—these aren’t “Department of Education” programs in the strictest sense. They’re federally mandated aid programs that can, and probably would, continue under a different agency if needed.

So What’s Happening Now? 

Right now, there’s talk from some federal leaders about eliminating or downsizing the Department of Education. A current proposal includes:

• Moving student loan management to the Small Business Administration (SBA) 
• Shifting special education programs to Health and Human Services (HHS) 

It might sound dramatic, but here’s what’s important:

The rules and funding for Pell Grants and student loans come from Congress—not the agency that manages them. So, while the administrative side might move, the actual aid your student qualifies for likely won’t change.

Should Parents Be Concerned? 

It’s totally fair to feel uneasy when something as big as a federal department is up for debate. But based on everything we know:

✅ Pell Grants and federal student loans were around long before the DoE
✅ They’ve already been managed by other departments before
✅ The laws that govern eligibility and funding aren’t going away any time soon

In reality, this is shaping up to be more of a bureaucratic reshuffle than a threat to college aid itself.

We’re Still in Your Corner 

No matter what happens to the Department of Education, here’s what won’t change:

🎯 We’ll continue helping families qualify for the most aid possible
🎯 We’ll stay on top of every change and help you adjust if needed
🎯 We’ll always make the complicated stuff easier to understand

You don’t have to figure this all out alone. That’s what we’re here for.

Ready for help navigating the process? 

👉 Visit our site and book a FREE call!

Let’s make sure your child gets to college—without overpaying for it.

In the meantime, here is an infographic about the history of the DoE!