Mississippi universities face tough times as political forces led by President Donald Trump align against traditional higher education.

 

“After years of shuffling Americans through an economically unproductive postsecondary system, President Trump will refocus young Americans on career preparation,” read an April White House fact sheet on the order uplifting workforce training.

 

A second slammed accrediting agencies’ practices that have “diverted focus from student success to ideological conformity, undermining academic integrity and student achievement,” read the second April fact sheet.

 

A Reuters analysis reported the orders tilt “U.S. government agencies away from overwhelming support for the professional jobs that colleges and universities prepare workers for, and toward backing skilled trades, like electricians, machinists and nursing assistants.”

 

Already in Mississippi, Accelerate Mississippi has begun to strongly emphasize credentials and workforce training. State Auditor Shad White has called for state funding to be eliminated for “useless degrees” in “garbage fields.”

 

Two other changes epitomize a growing national effort to focus more on skill-based training and less on university degrees.

 

First, the president’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” as currently written would reduce Pell Grant benefits for “more than half” of college recipients, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate. Nearly 80,000 Mississippi students received Pell Grants last year according to Mississippi Today. They represent a major revenue source for Mississippi universities.

 

Second, the bill would expand access to Pell Grants for lower cost workforce training. “The workforce Pell,” reported Inside Higher Education, “would extend eligibility for the federal financial aid grant to students enrolled in short-term credential programs.”

 

Other proposals in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” along with parallel actions by the Trump administration would reduce university revenues, increase costs, force students to pay more while restricting their ability to borrow, and incentivize students to pursue less costly options for further education.

 

Mississippi universities, particularly Mississippi State and Ole Miss, receive significant federal research and development grants. These funds help cover university overhead costs, pay faculty, and attract graduate students. The administration has begun cutting such grants and ratcheting down overhead reimbursements (actions now being challenged in federal courts). Grants targeting smaller institutions like the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 are also at risk.

 

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” would cap loans for professional degrees, reduce the Federal Work-Study program, and eliminate Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants. Meanwhile, the administration has begun implementing restrictions on federal student loans that would force students to pay more for harder to get student loans.

 

Should the bill pass in its current form and the courts free up administrative orders, times will indeed be changing for our universities. And this looks to be just the beginning.

 

Crawford is the author of “A Republican’s Lament: Mississippi Needs Good Government Conservatives.”