A second Donald Trump administration will be ¡°salt in?the wound¡± for US?colleges that have had a?difficult few years and now face a?president with ¡°axes to?grind¡±, according to?academics.

The Republican candidate¡¯s comfortable victory over Kamala Harris on 5?November ¨C along with his party¡¯s control of?the Senate and, potentially, the House of?Representatives ¨C was seen by?many as a?¡°horrific¡± outcome for the sector.

Dafydd Townley, a teaching fellow at the University of Portsmouth, said Mr?Trump tends to follow through on his threats towards his enemies ¨C which will mean trouble for universities if his second term is an ¡°administration of retribution¡±, as some fear.

One obvious starting point would be the Project 2025 policy playbook¡¯s plans to close the federal Department of Education and return control of education to the states.

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¡°It may well be that that is the first step as far as educational institutions are going to feel the full force of the Trump administration,¡± Dr?Townley said.

Reduced federal input could also affect higher education institutions¡¯ ability to ¡°be the laboratories of liberal thinking that the universities believe that they should be¡±, he?added.

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The ¡°worst-case scenario¡± would be a state-mandated curriculum driven by Trumpism that curtails academic freedom and is supported by a ¡°hamstrung¡± Education Department and a Republican-dominated Supreme Court, he warned.

Students have also been a target of the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement, and Mr?Trump has threatened to crack down on institutions that permit pro-Palestinian protests and the students who participate in them.

Dr Townley said attempts to ensure that gender and sexuality are protected characteristics will ¡°go out the window¡±, which will result in ¡°very real clear and present danger to those who are not white, heterosexual and, probably, male either¡±.

¡°Trump has already promised that he will make some of these changes from day one, so we could see by the end of January a higher education sector that is either massively transformed or under incredible pressure to make transformations.¡±

Reduced federal support would also have big implications for the country¡¯s historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Marybeth Gasman, distinguished professor of education at Rutgers University ¨C New Brunswick, said Mr Trump¡¯s funding for HBCUs in his first term was often ¡°transactional¡± and a ¡°political tool¡± rather than a genuine commitment.

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¡°A second Trump term might bring about more of this kind of Trump ¡®deal-making¡¯ approach, with financial support contingent upon alignment with his policies and initiatives, which may not always connect with the values and priorities of HBCUs,¡± she said.

¡°HBCUs, once again, will find themselves having to navigate the rocky terrain of maintaining steady financial resources while advocating for policies that serve their students and missions.¡±

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The sector will also be worried by JD?Vance, the vice-president-elect, who is an outspoken critic of higher education viewed by many as an ¡°anti-intellectual¡±.

Jennifer Steele, a professor in the School of Education at American University, said that the Trump-Vance administration will have ¡°axes to grind¡± and that while education might not be a key priority, loan forgiveness will end.

Dr Steele warned that this will accelerate trends that the sector is already facing ¨C an approaching ¡°enrolment cliff¡±, waning interest in higher education, skyrocketing costs and questions over freedom of speech.

¡°Higher ed administrators in the US have just had a very rough few years, with the protests and emotion and heartbreak over what¡¯s happening in the Middle East,¡± she added.

¡°It¡¯s been very difficult, and I?think that this is maybe salt in the wound.¡±

However, in a labour market that is being rapidly warped by artificial intelligence, an increasingly fraught global marketplace and a climate crisis, Dr?Steele said the sector needed to look beyond the next four years.

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¡°If university leaders focus on the extent to which they¡¯re being provoked by the current administration, they¡¯re definitely focusing on the wrong thing because the headwinds that they face are much broader,¡± she said.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com