GW’s location in the heart of D.C. could subject the University to heightened scrutiny from President-elect Donald Trump as he enters his second term vowing to repress pro-Palestinian protests and diversity initiatives on college campuses, experts said.
Trump has proposed several education policy changes, including cracking down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus, eliminating President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness programs, reversing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the federal level and dismantling the Department of Education. Higher education policy experts said given GW’s location blocks from the White House, the University could face heightened levels of federal scrutiny, although there’s a slim chance the Republican-controlled executive and legislative branch will approve extensive changes to higher education.
University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said officials will continue to collaborate with partners across higher education over the next four years to ensure the University is accessible and offers opportunities for prospective students. She declined to say whether GW plans to retain or bring on outside consultants during Trump’s second term to navigate potential higher education policy changes.
Officials hired a lobbying firm last May after the House of Representatives Oversight Committee called on D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith to testify about reports that they denied GW’s requests to clear the pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard last spring.
University President Ellen Granberg said in September that officials hired the firm to ensure they didn’t create a “bigger issue” because the University doesn’t have sufficient connections to manage a “situation” between lawmakers and administration.
McClendon said the University monitors the “federal regulatory landscape” and will continue to assess potential policy changes that would impact the University. She said GW will provide resources to support “impacted members” of the GW community.
“Our proximity in the heart of the nation’s capital provides the University a unique level of access to leaders as well as the opportunity to continue to demonstrate the vital role of higher education institutions,” McClendon said.
John Aubrey Douglass, a senior research fellow of public policy and higher education at the University of California, Berkeley, said Trump’s current agenda and threats for universities like GW are “opaque.” He said Trump has presented some policies that could have a large impact on students and faculty, but others are “less worrisome” in terms of policy and money.
“It seems that the verbal attacks and threats we have seen thus far from Trump and Vance on universities as leftist, elite bastions will continue as it appears to work for them politically,” Douglass said in an email.
Here’s how some of Trump’s proposed education policies could impact the University:
Pro-Palestinian protests
GW became a lightning rod for congressional scrutiny over the University’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus, its proximity to the White House and Congress appearing to draw the attention of Republican leaders. Trump said he plans to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on all university campuses in his next term, potentially using his office to push federal investigations onto protesters and deport protesters, which some free speech and civil rights groups say would limit free speech and censor students.
As president, Trump has the federal authority to direct the Department of Justice to investigate protests that involve violations of federal law or national security concerns. However, he does not have the authority to directly regulate protests or speech on private university campuses, as they are not subject to the same public institution standards under the First Amendment.
The University faced pressure from House Republicans to clear the pro-Palestinian encampment last spring and arrest student protesters after six Republican House Oversight Committee members visited U-Yard and called on Bowser and Smith to testify about their handling of campus protests. In October, the House’s Committee on Education and Workforce released a report criticizing GW and 10 other schools for an alleged “stunning lack of accountability” for students who trespassed, damaged property, violated University policies and exhibited alleged antisemitism.
Ben Cecil — a senior education policy adviser at Third Way, a national center-left think tank — said because GW is in the “backyard of the White House,” the University must consider the “competing interests” between the University and Trump administration and pledge to protect free speech on campus while also trying not to be a “target of ire” from the White House or Congress.
Cecil said University leaders may not be able to prepare for Trump’s second term because there are “so many” proposed policies that Trump has promised to act upon.
“We have a bit of a playbook from how the first Trump administration approached higher education,” Cecil said. “We don’t know that that will be the same in Trump 2.0, and so what I think that means is that institutional leaders really have to be prepared for anything.”
Financial aid and student loans
Project 2025, a sweeping policy blueprint for the next Republican president penned by the conservative Heritage Foundation, calls for the elimination of Biden’s student loan programs, the public service loan forgiveness program and the privatization of all lending programs.
Cecil said the Trump administration will likely shake up current student financial aid and loan policies because Trump has been openly against Biden’s student loan forgiveness plans and has the authority to revoke or replace executive orders made by past presidents.
He said “several” of the Biden administration’s repayment plans for student loans are actively being litigated and will “likely not” be enacted by the Trump administration, including Biden’s plan to lower monthly payments and shorten the time it takes to receive student loan forgiveness.
“What that means is for students that take out loans to go to college that it could be potentially, you know, more challenging for those to be repaid afterwards,” Cecil said.
3,171 undergraduate students at GW — 29 percent — received federal loans in the 2020-21 academic year, which is nearly half of the national rate of about 60 percent of undergraduates at other private nonprofit institutions who borrow federal loans.
Cecil said Trump would have to go through Congress for certain education policies, including eliminating any loan forgiveness provision, so the likelihood of passing legislation that would significantly change higher education is small. Despite Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress, the House’s Republican majority is “really slim,” and there are varying perspectives within the party toward education, he said.
“Just because there’s a majority there doesn’t necessarily mean that that majority is going to be able to push something across the finish line and over to the Senate,” Cecil said.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
GW met diversity and enrollment goals for the Class of 2028 despite delays in federal aid applications and the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban of race-based affirmative action in college admissions. In his second term, Trump said he plans to eliminate DEI-focused initiatives at the federal level and cut federal funding for schools that teach curricula surrounding the principle.
Linda McMahon, Trump’s pick for education secretary who has yet to be confirmed by the Senate, serves as the board chair for a right-wing think tank founded in 2021 to help develop Trump’s public policy plans. The institute has previously advocated for strategies to dismantle DEI initiatives on college campuses, including defunding DEI offices, ending mandatory diversity training and prohibiting diversity statements, particularly for public universities in majority-Republican states where such changes may be easier to enact than in liberal states.
As president, Trump can sign executive orders and appoint judges who may influence the outcomes of present and future DEI-related cases, which could reshape the legal landscape around DEI policies.
David Blazar, an associate professor of education policy at the University of Maryland, College Park, said there are different ways the Trump administration can “rein in” DEI initiatives in the college admissions process and the accreditation process. He said if the college accreditation process, which evaluates a college’s quality and educational experience, and a university’s board was politicized and leaned more right, higher education institutions’ federal funding would be dependent on them eliminating DEI initiatives.
“There are some pathways through which Trump may be able to reign in his administration, may be able to reign in DEI initiatives, but not all of them are going to be legal,” Blazar said. “The court system and legal teams I think will play an important role in this next administration.”
Department of Education
The Department of Education establishes policy, administers programs and enforces laws involving federal financial aid and student loans for students. Trump said he plans to disband the department, which could move or cut certain initiatives including the U.S.’s federal student loan program and civil rights laws that bar discrimination at schools.
Blazar said there would be “severe consequences” for the American education system if the department were shut down, but added that it’s “unlikely” it would be dismantled because its initiatives are “very popular,” and Congress would have to approve it, requiring 60 of 100 senators’ votes. Republicans will have 53 senators in 2025.
Blazar said the Department of Education could still be “slimmed down” under Trump if not shut down, which could impact the federal student loan program and the accessibility of loans for students and families because the department is responsible for administering federal student loans for higher education.