President Trump’s proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2027 takes direct aim at higher education, targeting billions in cuts to financial aid, research, and programs that serve the country’s most vulnerable students. Though Congress is unlikely to approve the plan wholesale—lawmakers rejected nearly identical cuts last year—the proposal lays bare the administration’s priorities and sets the stage for a bruising appropriations fight.
The White House unveiled the $2.2 trillion discretionary budget request on Friday, prioritizing a $1.5 trillion military budget—a 40% increase over current defense spending—while calling for $73 billion in domestic spending reductions spread across federal agencies. Higher education would absorb $2.7 billion of those cuts.
Among the most consequential proposals for college students is the effective gutting of Federal Work-Study. Rather than eliminating the program outright, the administration would shift 90% of student wage costs onto employers, with the federal government covering only 10%—a near-inversion of the current structure. Roughly 600,000 students participate in Work-Study each year, and analysts warn that nonprofits, schools, and community organizations may simply stop offering positions if forced to absorb the bulk of labor costs.
The administration is also proposing to eliminate the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, which currently provides up to $4,000 annually to undergraduates with exceptional financial need. It would be the second consecutive year Trump has called for the program’s elimination; Congress voted to preserve it last year.
Programs designed to help low-income and first-generation students navigate college would fare no better. The budget zeros out funding for federal TRIO programs—which serve nearly 800,000 students annually—along with GEAR UP and the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program. Minority-Serving Institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, would face a $354 million reduction.
Melanie Storey, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, pushed back sharply on the proposal, saying in a statement, “American families are facing rising costs of basic necessities, and forthcoming changes to federal student aid programs from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will give many of them fewer options to pay for college. Now is not the time to abandon critical need-based aid programs with a proven track record of improving student outcomes and academic success.”
The budget’s proposed increases to Pell Grant funding—a $10.5 billion boost bringing total program funding to $33 billion—offer a measure of relief, but come with an asterisk. The maximum award would remain frozen at $7,395, the same as the current year, marking the fourth consecutive year without an increase. As tuition and living costs continue to rise, a frozen award represents an effective reduction in purchasing power for the millions of low-income students who depend on the program.
Research institutions would face cuts of an even sharper magnitude. The National Science Foundation would see its budget slashed by 55%, from $8.8 billion to $4 billion, eliminating all funding for social, behavioral, and economic sciences. The National Institutes of Health faces a $5 billion reduction, with several centers and institutes—including the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities—on the chopping block. NASA, NOAA, and the Environmental Protection Agency are also targeted for steep cuts.
The Association of American Universities urged Congress to “reject these short-sighted cuts and increase investments in America’s scientific enterprise to ensure that our nation continues to lead the world.”
For now, the budget remains a proposal, not law. Congress controls federal spending under the Constitution, and the same lawmakers who blocked comparable cuts last year will have the opportunity to do so again. Still, the document signals where the administration intends to press—and which students and institutions it is willing to leave behind.
