President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

It is unclear what that might mean for the $1.6 billion in funding that flows to Maryland schools or the $754 million that goes to the state’s public colleges and universities from the federal government.

The White House has not spelled out formally which department functions could be handed off to other departments or eliminated altogether, the Associated Press reported.

The White House press secretary on Thursday morning said Pell grants, Title I funding, student loans and funding to special education students will stay under the department, despite the executive order. A small version of the department would remain open for “critical functions,” she said.

Before signing the order, Trump said those functions will be “redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them.”

Finalizing the department’s dismantling is likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979, the Associated Press reported.

How much money do Maryland schools get from the federal government?

The $1.6 billion that the federal government contributes is less than 10% of funding for Maryland schools. The state spent more than $9 billion this year, and the city and county governments will spend $8.2 billion.

The greatest percentage of that money, about $313 million, goes to Title I schools, which have high percentages of students living in poverty. The school districts that would lose the most are Baltimore City, which receives $71 million, and Prince George’s County, which receives $57 million.

Montgomery and Baltimore counties also receive more than $40 million a year in Title I funding, which pays for extra staff, such as a reading specialist or music teacher, but it is also used to buy extra materials at those schools. Low-income students are more likely to need extra support to succeed.

Local schools also receive a significant amount of money — $241 million — to help pay for the extra services provided to special education students.

About $20 million of the $1.6 billion was money the federal government gave school systems to recover from the pandemic. That money ran out in October.

“This potential chaos redoubles the importance of doing all we can in Maryland to strengthen and protect our commitment to our students, especially those coming from backgrounds of poverty, receiving special education services, or who are multilingual learners,” said Paul Lemle, president of the Maryland Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.

How much do Maryland colleges get?

According to the Education Data Initiative, federal funding for public postsecondary institutions in Maryland averages $2,991 per student.

That federal funding sits alongside other grants given by the Department of Education, including $400 million allocated by Congress through the department to support historically Black colleges and universities such as Bowie State, Coppin State, Morgan State and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

The Maryland Higher Education Commission declined to comment on how the department closure could affect local colleges, and University System of Maryland Chancellor Jay Perman declined an interview request.

What about financial aid for college students?

The Department of Education issues about $100 billion in student loans each year to students across the country. The department’s Office of Federal Student Aid manages the government’s $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio.

According to the most recently available data from the Maryland Higher Education Commission, over 45,000 low-income students receive Pell grants to go to public universities in the state. Though Education Secretary Linda McMahon pledged to support Pell grants, students applying for federal student aid could face a rockier process.

When the department initiated a 50% reduction in force last week, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid crashed, said Veronica Goodman, the senior director of workforce development at the Center for American Progress.

“That really caused chaos for students and families,” said Goodman, who is also a lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University. “It really introduces concerns over what is the capacity of the department now that there have been these significant and unprecedented staff cuts, and how that will impact families.”

What else does the Education Department do for Maryland students?

In 2024, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights received 22,687 discrimination complaints across the country. The Biden administration projected the office would receive over 24,000 in 2025. But with no Department of Education, it’s unclear exactly who would investigate those complaints.

“Without appropriate staffing of investigators and attorneys, the Office of Civil Rights will be unable to protect students from discrimination,” Goodman said.

Project 2025, which Trump distanced himself from during his campaign, has called for the office to move under the Justice Department, with limited enforcement.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has used the office to open a number of investigations into colleges across the country, including the Johns Hopkins University over claims of antisemitism and Towson University for a diversity program it is involved in.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.