Now that Donald Trump is using the power of the federal government against schools that continue to employ racial preferences, push the DEI agenda, or do anything else that could be deemed illegal, the left is in a snit. But how did we get to the point where presidential diktats can upset so many plans and expectations within our colleges and universities?

Two excellent articles shed light on that.

In this essay for the Independent Institute, economics professor Nikolai Wenzel observes that under the Constitution, the president is not supposed to have any authority over education and the government is not supposed to spend money on it.

Wenzel writes:

Of course, we don’t want the federal government dictating free speech or impeding academic freedom.  However, the problem is deeper, even if it is not talked about.  The federal government is essentially a donor to both Harvard and Columbia, as well as many other institutions of higher learning across the country.  In 2023, the federal government funded $59,679 billion of a total of $108,841 billion (or 55%) of university research expenses.  To that, we can add about $35 billion on Pell Grants and $124 billion on higher education (there is some overlap because federal research funding is channeled through multiple departments, especially the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Health & Human Services).  Most universities receive 10% to 15% of their total operating expenses from the federal government; some receive as much as 50%.

Now that the federal camel has its big nose far under the higher ed tent, we get politicized research, interference with free speech, and plenty of other meddling in college affairs.

In the same vein, law professor John O. McGinnis writes here about the unhappy consequences of Uncle Sam’s intervention in higher education, starting with the Grove City case. The Supreme Court ruled that schools were free from federal regulations except with respect to their operations that directly took federal funds. The Democrats in Congress threw a fit and passed legislation stating that if a school accepted any federal funds, every aspect of its business had to comply.

McGinnis writes:

As a result of this change in law, all subsequent presidential administrations have enjoyed enormous leverage over universities. Any violation of Title VI or Title IX anywhere within the institution, as defined by an administration, puts a university at the risk of the loss of all federal funds in all its operations. Modern universities receive substantial federal funds. Virtually every university relies significantly on federal student aid. Research universities like my own receive substantial additional federal funding, particularly in biomedical research and in defense contracting.

The leftists who are wailing over Trump’s education policies ought to ponder their role in creating such power in the first place.

Both essays are worth your time.