Carson City’s educational institutions are keeping a watchful eye on the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education, maintaining that the best interests of students are priority in any potential local changes.
Trump signed an executive order March 20 that directed U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon to shut down the department as part of a campaign promise to eliminate wasteful spending.
Western Nevada College President Kyle Dalpe told the Nevada Appeal major federal shifts often bring many unknowns about funding and continued enrollment. WNC expects some disruption at the ground level but Dalpe said staff members are working through any changes.
“When things are announced, like, ‘We’re going to, you know, eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, there’s a lot of question marks that come to my mind, namely, how does that affect student financial aid?” Dalpe said. “Because as soon as those headlines hit, the students start calling us and say, ‘Am I still going to get financial aid? How are we going to get financial aid? How is it going to affect me?’”
The DOE, established by Congress in 1980, is responsible for coordinating and distributing key resources and funding. Exact targets on higher education services to be eliminated or preserved have yet to be announced, but Dalpe said they can be rebuilt if federal access is removed.
“We do not have a large number of grants, so therefore, the impact of federal grants or any changes in federal grant appropriations or federal agencies that have money flowing to higher education won’t affect us as much as it might at a university because we’re just not dependent on it,” Dalpe said.
In its 2024-25 award year, which applies from fall to summer, 1,864 students received some type of financial aid from the college, according to John Lazzari, WNC Student Services executive director and liberal arts and sciences interim director. Approximately 1,215 students received Pell grants, and 105 received loans. The total also includes 864 who were awarded one or more scholarships and 69 have work-study awards.
In all, WNC disbursed $7,585,366 in student aid for 2024-25.
“If students don’t have access to federal funding as they have before, we can do wonderful things with our scholarship office,” he said. “We can talk to local donors, we can talk to the state and we can push more people in those directions, but there will be a gap time when there’s an adjustment made and the less abrupt, that is the better.”
Dalpe said the DOE’s dissolving could affect national accrediting agencies that review and evaluate higher education institutions for program standards and efficiency. WNC receives its accreditation through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities based in Redmond, Wash., which this month evaluated the college for its seven-year cycle. Standards are to ensure staff members are assessing classes, outcomes are being achieved, the college maintains financial reserves and provides a quality education and capital infrastructure, as examples.
Although Trump has ordered the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Dalpe said funding for initiatives such as its Latino Leadership Academy came from the state.
“We’ve had the Latino Leadership Academy that received and was funded under special appropriations from the state, not the federal government, and now we no longer have that funding, but we do have a large cohort of Latino students that mirrors our population, which I think is appropriate.”
Dalpe said the college will continue to monitor what happens with the Trump administration.
“We do have a pretty good student government that is active in discussions,” he said. “We have had some comments that come through teachers, but it’s a lot of, ‘What does this mean? Should I be scared? Should I be worried?’ … I mean, people should be talking about it, but I want to make sure everyone knows that we make this a safe campus, it’s an accessible campus and we’ve always been that way.”
Carson City School District Superintendent Andrew Feuling also said public schools will ensure services will be maintained.
“The Carson City School District continues to monitor the rapid changes at the federal level,” Feuling told the Appeal. “The Nevada Department of Education has been communicating with districts throughout the state about potential impacts. Our utmost concern is maintaining the level of support we provide to our students in schools each day.”