The war on education trickles down

Ben Austen, in The New York Times Magazine, recently laid out the consequences of the Trump administrations razed earth policies on higher education ("How Trump's War on Higher Education Is Hitting Community Colleges," August 4, 2025).

As many of you know, my opportunity at W&L was transformative for me. This is why I fight. But I also have family that had transformative experiences at Virginia's community colleges (Blue Ride and Mountain Gateway, in particular). That meant just as much to them as mine did to me. And everyone is built different when it comes to learning and goals. Community colleges are super important. What follows is a summary of Austen's investigation.

As shown above, in a hydraulics classroom at Delta College near Saginaw, Michigan, instructor Robert Luna Jr. watches as his evening students—factory workers still in their boots and uniforms from their day jobs—methodically build and rebuild pressurized circuits. These men, employed by major companies like Dow and Nexteer Automotive, are here to advance their careers, moving from apprentice machinists to full journeymen. Their employers pay for the training because they need skilled workers. It's a quintessentially American story of upward mobility through education.

But this classroom scene, described in Austen's recent New York Times investigation, represents something much larger and more vulnerable than it might appear. Community colleges play a critical role in America's economy and social mobility. And that is now under threat.

The crisis spans all society's strata

While the Trump administration has declared war on elite universities like Harvard and Columbia, freezing billions in research grants and attacking institutional autonomy, the collateral damage has spread far beyond the ivory towers. America's 1,100 community colleges also face an existential crisis. They educate 6.4 million undergraduates annually—roughly 40% of all college students. This is more than twice the enrollment of all the highly selective institution combined.

Dark irony yet again. Policies designed to punish wealthy, prestigious, "woke" universities also devastate those institutions that serve working-class Americans, first-generation college students, and the skilled workforce that keeps local economies humming.

In other words, poor people get the shaft again too—all in the name of being "anti-woke". The death of empathy hurts everyone.

The hidden infrastructure of economic growth

Community colleges function as the unsung heroes of American economic development. At Durham Tech in North Carolina, students train on robotic medical mannequins and work with pharmaceutical companies like Novo Nordisk, which recently donated $6 million for a new life-sciences facility. When the city of Durham faced a shortage of emergency-dispatch operators, the college developed a credentialing program in under three months.

This rapid response capability isn't unique to Durham Tech. Across the country, community colleges serve as the workforce development arms of their local economies, partnering with employers to provide precisely the training needed for available jobs. They're producing the nurses, technicians, electricians, and skilled manufacturers that keep communities functioning.

These are the essential workers that are often on the front lines of any crisis.

Mike Gavin, president of Delta College and a leading voice for community colleges, put it simply:

They accept everyone and then do the hard work of helping historically underserved students catch up and succeed.

People like my family.

Devastating cuts

The administration's assault on higher education has hit community colleges in multiple ways:

Financial aid

Proposed cuts to Pell Grants, which help low-income students pay for college, directly target community college students—three-quarters of whom attend part-time while working jobs.

The elimination of TRIO grants, designed to support first-generation college students, removes crucial support for students like James Martin at Durham Tech, whose family has no history of college attendance. And would have affected no less than five of my own cousins, were this implemented in the 90s. But Clinton, for all his faults, gave a shit then.

A Pell Grant made my own education a reality. I was also first generation. This is why I am angry.

Workforce development

Federal grants supporting cybersecurity, semiconductor, and automotive technology training have been canceled. The Department of Education eliminated millions in teacher training funds, calling programs "divisive" and "inappropriate."

This is why Russia and China are happy. They see the pipeline of hackers and security experts drying up here as they institionalize them.

Diversity programs

The administration's war on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has forced community colleges to shutter programs designed to recruit women and minorities into high-demand fields. Durham Tech lost Department of Labor funding for its Hope Renovations partnership, which trained women for construction jobs—a program with 77% job placement rates in an industry facing severe labor shortages.

I worked in road construction as a summer job in my student days, and the women and minorities were the hardest workers on the crew. I'd go to war for them and in a sense, I am.

Student support services

Cuts to English-as-a-second-language programs threaten nearly 300,000 students in California alone. I taught these classes as an associate at William & Mary while earning my master's there. This was the most fulfilliing expereience I have.

Emergency assistance funds that help homeless students and food pantries serving 500 students monthly at schools like Durham Tech now face uncertain futures. Again, empathy loses.

This really hurts people

The statistics tell only part of the story. Laura Harris, a Costa Rican immigrant and single mother at Durham Tech, relied on the school's comprehensive support system. This ranged from English-learner classes to a food pantry she worked toward transferring to UNC Chapel Hill to study psychology. rewardStudents like Harris represent the American dream in action: immigrants and first-generation college students using education to transform their lives and contribute to their communities.

But as federal support evaporates, these pathways to mobility are closing. Community college leaders report students feeling unwelcome and questioning whether they belong in higher education. In Texas, more than half of LGBTQ college students now feel unwelcome and are considering leaving school entirely.

The economic stupidity

The administration's policies reveal a fundamental contradiction in current political rhetoric. While promoting domestic manufacturing and job creation, federal actions are undermining the very institutions that train the workforce for these jobs. Currently, 400,000 factory jobs sit vacant across America—positions that community college graduates could fill if the training infrastructure remains intact.

Community colleges operate on budgets that four-year institutions would find laughably small, yet they deliver enormous returns on investment for their regions. As one anonymous community college leader told Austen:

A resistance network

In response to this crisis, community college leaders have formed Education for All, an improvised coalition led by figures like Gavin and Keith Curry of Compton College. The group, which has grown to 2,200 members including 250 community college presidents, provides legal guidance, strategic planning, and emotional support to institutions navigating an increasingly hostile environment.

Unlike elite universities with teams of lawyers, most community colleges can't afford in-house counsel. Education for All fills this gap, helping schools distinguish between actual legal requirements and mere threats, preventing overcompliance that could unnecessarily restrict their mission.

We should support them whenever and however we can.

The bridge and how we can maintain it

The assault on community colleges represents more than educational policy. It attack the economic mobility and regional prosperity of Trump's base. These institutions serve as bridges, bringing women, racial minorities, immigrants, and first-generation students into higher education and skilled careers. The minute brown people or women succeed, they hate you.

They're the engines of local economic development, training workers for specific regional needs while maintaining affordability and accessibility.

Basic economic reality should transcend political ideology. But we the people are not their true targets. They disdain us all.

As Gavin notes, it's "far too late to stop the war on higher education," but community colleges may hold the key to reframing how Americans view the entire educational sector. These institutions embody the democratic promise of education—open access, affordability, and pathways to better lives within local communities.

The hydraulics class at Delta College where this story began illustrates what's at stake. Luna's students aren't just learning to troubleshoot circuits—they're troubleshooting their own economic futures, using education to advance from apprentices to journeymen. They represent the millions of Americans who depend on community colleges for economic mobility and the thousands of communities that depend on these institutions for economic vitality.

The question now is whether American policymakers will recognize community colleges' worth. They act as essential engines for prosperity and opportunity. This is still the American dream. And community colleges make it possible for working families across the nation.

As the Trump administration continues its assault on education, the stakes extend far beyond university campuses to the very foundation of American economic mobility and community prosperity. The collateral damage to community colleges isn't just an educational crisis—it's an economic and social catastrophe that will reverberate through communities for generations to come.

As ever, Non in cautus futuri.