The program, Charting My Path for Future Success, aimed to help teens with disabilities transition from high school to the real world. It abruptly ended when DOGE terminated its federal contract.
Special education laws and the U.S. Department of Education have evolved together over nearly five decades. Now, the Trump administration seems to want to separate the two.
NPR has spent the past few weeks catching up with student loan experts and asking the Trump administration for clarity on some of borrowers' biggest questions.
For about 30 years, the Ph.D. Project has supported students from underrepresented groups who are earning doctoral degrees in business. Now, it's attracted the attention of the Trump administration.
With cuts to nearly all the staff at the Department of Education's primary data agency, low-income and rural schools may not get the federal funds they rely on in coming years.
The president said federal student loans would move to the Small Business Administration, and hinted that the Department of Health and Human Services would take over special education oversight.
According to the department, more than 1,300 positions will be cut as a result of this reduction in force. Roughly another 600 employees have accepted voluntary resignations or retired.
The draft executive action, obtained by NPR, acknowledges that the department and its signature responsibilities were created by Congress and cannot legally be altered without congressional approval.
The White House has been clear that it intends to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, and that it will be McMahon's job to oversee that effort.
Peggy Carr, a federal official who leads one of the country's most extensive student testing programs, known as The Nation's Report Card, was placed on administrative leave.
In her confirmation hearing, Linda McMahon handled tough questions from Democrats, and affirmed President Trump's plans to shrink, and potentially eliminate, the department.
McMahon has a limited background in education, and a long career as a business executive. She'd be stepping into an agency the president hopes to dissolve.
