💡 New from us: The risk of family separations, falling college prices, and unpacking the executive order to close the Department of Education.
Trump’s renewed immigration enforcement policies will likely increase the number of family separations, placing millions of U.S.-citizen children at risk of losing a parent to deportation. In a Dallas Morning News commentary, Maria Cancian and Tara Watson highlight the Department of Homeland Security’s lack of a clear plan for caring for these children, leaving them reliant on kin, non-relatives, or the child welfare system—solutions that could exacerbate trauma and harm. With more than five million U.S.-born children estimated to be living in households with undocumented parents, the administration’s aggressive stance on deportations could engender devastating impacts on vulnerable families and overwhelm the child welfare system.
Despite skyrocketing sticker prices at many colleges, the actual amount most students pay has been decreasing over time due to financial aid. Phillip Levine’s analysis highlights that sticker prices are often misleading and do not reflect the true cost of attendance. Nevertheless, while net prices have fallen for many, affordability remains a significant challenge, particularly for low-income families. At institutions with low or moderate endowments, the net costs often exceed what is reasonable for these families to pay, perpetuating unequal access to higher education. The article underscores the complexity of college pricing and the persistent barriers faced by students from lower-income backgrounds, even as average costs decline.
With last month’s executive order (EO) attempting to close the Department of Education, many are left wondering what the real effects of this will be and what rhetoric to believe. Michael Hansen, Katharine Meyer, Rachel M. Perera, and Jon Valant provide their analysis, and important context of the EO. Major legal, political, and logistical hurdles remain in the path of efforts to dismantle the department. Their commentary dispels misconceptions about the department’s mission and the reality of what the administration can do without further Congressional approval.
