Cutting education is an ‘America last’ not an ‘America first’ approach

With the stroke of a pen, President Trump and his administration have cut education investments and weakened the United States’ global competitive edge—in stark opposition to the government’s America First Priorities. Using executive orders to debilitate the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID), and universities, the administration is creating an education shock where a system is suddenly compromised by attacks that leave it struggling to breathe and thrive. 

Only 4% of the U.S. federal budget goes to education, yet ED’s work touches most American schools and children. For example, nearly half of public schools receive Title 1 funding, which helps cover staffing, tutoring, and other critical services for schools that serve a high proportion of low-income students, including those in rural areas. Meanwhile, China has been increasing education funding to exceed its 4% benchmark. Cutting funds to U.S. schools, eliminating research on how to close learning gaps, and killing innovation grants will prevent children across all states from reaching their full potential as successful innovators and leaders. This education shock will not only hurt American students and communities but will also ultimately stifle the U.S. economy and force businesses to recruit more foreign workers. 

The education shock is also hurting the roughly 85 countries that rely on USAID for education programming to keep their societies and neighboring countries safe. These programs prevent youth migration to the U.S. in search of work and safety. Additionally, eliminating USAID forces hundreds of U.S. businesses that provide goods and services to schools worldwide to close their doors and lay off workers. Taxpayers spend only about $3.95 a year on education programs through USAID—about the same as a cup of coffee at Starbucks —but these programs have improved education and life outcomes for children living in some of the most dire circumstances. 

If the administration wants to put America first, it must quit throwing education shocks at our children and families at home and abroad as this will ultimately suffocate the U.S. economy. The U.S. needs to prioritize education, or it will fall behind other countries like China in development. Here are five reasons why education cuts will hurt American children, communities, and employers.

The US will lose in the global competition for talent and innovation

The U.S. has long been an education, research, and innovation powerhouse which has enabled it to foster some of the world’s best and brightest talent and innovators. Federal funds have fueled this excellence. Cuts to ED’s Institute for Education Sciences, the National Institutes for Health (NIH), and more, put the education, research, and innovation space in jeopardy and threaten the United States’ development as a nation. The domino effect of research cuts through NIH is already being felt at American universities, which rely on federal funds to ensure they are producing cutting-edge research and innovation and training young people to be at the forefront of new frontiers like AI. 

The U.S. economy depends on skilled labor, and by hurting research and our universities, we are threatening our supply of skilled workers. As Elon Musk said, “There is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America. If you force the world’s best talent to play for the other side, America will LOSE.” Without an investment in education, research and innovation, the U.S. will lose the very people it needs to maintain leadership in global innovation. 

The best and brightest no longer will come to the US for higher education

The United States’ status as a top education destination for international students ensures universities remain at the top of the innovation game. International students also provide critical funding to universities, which benefits U.S. students. During President Trump’s first term, international student enrollment went down by 15% in 2020/2021, dipping below 1 million students, due to government policies and the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-pandemic enrollment increased by 11.5% in 2022/2023, returning to the 1 million student mark. International student enrollments are likely to go downward again due to the volatility of U.S. policies. On the other hand, the number of international students seeking to study in China, Canada, the U.K. and several other countries, is increasing.

International students also contribute financially to the U.S. economy and fill critical workforce gaps, especially in areas like health and technology. In the 2023-2024 academic year, international students at U.S. universities “contributed $43.8 billion and supported 378,175 jobs to the U.S. economy.” Many international students have become CEOs of U.S. companies (Satya Nadella) or taken leadership globally at the United Nations (Kofi Annan). Educating future global leaders is form of soft power that enables the U.S. to influence and shape the global political and economic environment. Throwing education shocks at our universities makes it impossible for them to attract and produce talent. 

The US is setting the stage for further learning losses

In addition to economically strangling American schools, cuts at ED are laying the foundation for deeper and more enduring learning losses that will put children further behind. The 2025 Education Recovery Scorecard indicates that students in most states are not achieving at the same reading and math levels as they were in 2019, pre-pandemic. While the losses vary by state, many red and blue states are not on track for their students to graduate and thrive in the workforce. 

Cutting research and data collection that tracks how well children learn is bad practice. No one wants to take medication that has not been well-researched, yet schools are expected to figure out how to curb learning loss without robust data. 

Dismantling ED funding is already creating uncertainty in states and schools as they make their budgets for the next school year. While most schools are funded locally, federal funds fill gaps for rural schools, schools with large numbers of low-income students, and services for students with disabilities. The energy spent fighting federal cuts will lead to a chilling effect in schools with lower returns on investment. Student disengagement and declines in boys’ participation and achievement in education are already on the rise, as are poor mental health and skills mismatch. Schools need more funding and support, not less. Preventing kids from learning better prevents them from doing better when they become adults and from obtaining 21st century jobs. 

US security will deteriorate

Dismantling USAID’s education investments that provide stability and services across the world makes our communities less safe. Young people without viable and safe employment and educational opportunities are connected to rises in violence, extremism, and other threats to their communities and across borders. Instead of discussing knowledge and resource transfers to help young people serve productive lives in their communities, the U.S. is discussing transfers of criminals. 

Donor funded education and youth programs in the Northern Triangle (Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador), for example, have helped to address social exclusion and to ensure that young people have alternatives to gang violence and a viable option for staying in their countries as opposed to being pushed to migrate to the U.S. With the United States’ recent stance to deport migrants and cut USAID funding, governments such as Honduras suggest that this approach pushes them closer to China who can support them through a funding vacuum. Fewer efforts to tackle the roots of migration and security mean that the U.S. is setting up a situation where security will further deteriorate across borders. 

US funding cuts will create lots of harm for little gain

Proposed funding cuts to education at home and abroad will do little to reduce the national debt, but as discussed above, undermine the U.S. role in the world and undercut its economic potential. Only 4% of the U.S. federal budget supports education through the ED. Less than 1% of the federal budget went to USAID programming in 2023, with a fraction of this (less than 2% of the $40 billion) going to USAID’s education programming. Education is the foundation for poverty reduction and economic growth. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio said when he was senator, “95 percent of the people on this planet who buy things live outside the United States … . We are helping people to emerge from poverty and ultimately become members of a global consumer class who buys American goods and services.” 

Conclusion

Making governments more efficient and accountable is a good goal for all administrations. However, creating education shocks through the rapid and haphazard dismantling of education investments is not just bad for children and their families, it is bad for the U.S. economy and security. Cutting education without a clear long-term strategy is an America last and not an America First approach. If the administration wants to “improve the education, well-being, and future success” of young people in the U.S., it needs to have the structures, systems, plans, and skilled workforce in place to do this.