We live in a time where education has become harder for people to access—even in our own country. Back in February, the Trump administration released its 2019 budget proposal. The proposal entailed a $3 billion cut to the education department and a $1.6 billion increase in support for private school vouchers and school choice. The Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, not only testified to the 2019 budget request but her rules would also cut an estimated $13 billion in student loan relief.

I believe it's important to make people aware of these changes in order to either take action if they agree that change needs to be implemented or to simply stay up-to-date and be conscious of the results that come from such a drastic change, especially for students who these changes will affect and their fellow peers.

Not every family has the funds or is fortunate enough to send their children through the private school system or other schools of choice. With that large of a cut, a lot of changes would be made to our public school systems such as the elimination of several discretionary programs, including one that funds after-school programs and another that covers teacher training.

In regards to the proposed $13 billion student loan relief cut, students who are defrauded by their schools would have a harder time getting their federal loans erased. It would also primarily reduce the amount of loan relief awarded to students.

Proponents of the cut argued that while students should be protected from fraud, they also have an obligation to do their research before picking schools. According to Toby Merrill, director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending at Harvard University, "It encourages abusive and predatory institutions to continue to rip off students with impunity while slamming the door on the debt relief that Congress has instructed the department to provide to cheated students," Merrill said.