Department of Education ends support for political activism

By Esther Wickham
The Center Square

The U.S. Department of Education announced this week it is ending taxpayer-funded programs that supported political activism jobs on college campuses.

The Department of Education will no longer fund the Federal Work-Study, a Biden administration program that paid students to engage in political activities.

The department issued a guidance letter clarifying that institutions should focus FWS funding on jobs that will give students real opportunities.

“Federal Work-Study is meant to provide students opportunities to gain real-world experience that prepares them to succeed in the workforce, not as a way to fund political activism on our college and university campuses,” said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent.

The FWS program provides part-time jobs to students involving voter registration, voter assistance at polling locations, voter hotline services or other political activism roles. The jobs could take place either on or off campus.

Following the letter from the Education Department, 16 Republican attorneys general outlined in a letter in April 2024 how the Biden administration violated federal law by allowing FWS to support partisan activism on college campuses.

“Unfortunately, spending tax money to get more Democrat voters to the polls this fall looks to be this administration’s policy,” the letter stated.

In addition, the department’s new guidance makes clear that the Higher Education Act of 1965 does not require institutions to distribute registration forms to students known to be ineligible to vote, to avoid voter fraud.

“Under the HEA, institutions are required to make a ‘good faith’ effort to distribute voter registration forms to students,” the press release said.

Additionally, the Education Department has requested institutions to tell students that only citizens of the U.S. may vote in federal elections, voting twice and providing false information is prohibited under federal law, and an individual can only be registered to vote where they are permanently living.

The Department of Education’s actions of rescinding federal funds from political activism on college campuses follow President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.”