Dr. Glenn Lang shares the following Forbes article with Tri-State. He is concerned about what priority the programs will be accorded in departments where education and postsecondary education do not fall under their primary mission and remembers that there were difficulties when New Jersey eliminated their Department of Higher Education in 1994. He feels that it is unclear how these changes will impact higher education although many experts suggest they will add red tape and complicate future endeavors rather than save money as the administration suggests.
Some of the shifting of services includes:
- Programs currently managed by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education will now be administered by the Labor Department. Labor will also manage grant funds and other operations for more than a dozen programs formerly the responsibility of the Office of Postsecondary Education.
- The State Department will take over the Fulbright-Hays Program as well as other programs involving foreign language studies.
- The Interior Department will begin administering a number of federal Indian and Native American educational programs.
- The Health and Human Services Department will have responsibility to administer child care support grants and evaluate the standards of accreditation for foreign medical schools and will oversee the work of the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation.
- Oversight of student loan policy and the accreditation of colleges for eligibility to receive federal financial aid for students will remain with the Education Department.