Remarks by President Trump at Signing of Executive Order, "Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability at Colleges and Universities" | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Today's action is just the beginning of our efforts to protect free speech and advance our students' rights agenda. What I've been witnessing over the last long period of time, long before I became President - what I've been witnessing is outrageous.

    This order will also empower students with vital information about the value of the programs they take on and - having to do with debt. Student loan debt. I'm going to work to fix it because it's outrageous what's happening. You're not given that fair start. You're too far down. It's not right. And we're going to work very, very hard to get it fixed.

    But we're going to start with 43 million people in the United States who are currently working to pay off student loans. And we'll be talking about that very soon. We're going to work on that very soon. I've always been very good with loans and - (laughter) - I love loans. (Laughter.) I love other people's money. (Laughter and applause.) And we're going to work on it. (Applause.) I made a lot of money with those loans, and you're going to, too. You're going to do something that's going to be fair and good. But we're going to work with you very closely.


    The average student loan borrower owes roughly $35,000 dollars - that's a lot - and, in many cases, much more than that. I've seen numbers that go over $200,000. You're behind the eight ball before you start.

    And yet, typically, students who take loans do not have access to critical information about what career outcomes they can expect from their programs, majors, or fields of study. They borrow more money than they can ever expect to pay off or pay back.

    Many middle-class American families are getting ripped off, while tax-exempt colleges and large institutions, frankly - they take these tremendous endowments. You look at the money that they have. They're making a fortune.

    For that reason, I am directing the Department of Education and the Department of Treasury to publish detailed information on future earnings and loan repayment rates for every major and every program at every single school. It's very important. (Applause.)

    Today's order also directs the Department of Education to propose a plan that will require colleges and universities to have skin in the game by sharing a portion of the financial risk of the student loan debt. I believe - (applause).

    I believe that colleges and universities, their costs have gone up more than anything I can think of. I've watched this. And you watch companies, and they'll keep it the same for years and years. And you watch these colleges and universities and certain institutions, where it just goes right through the roof.

    And the reason - there's no incentive to them to watch costs. You see people at the heads of the institutions being paid a fortune. They don't care because the government loans the student the money, they pay the money to the college, and then the student graduates from college - maybe a very good college, but they graduate - or university - and they're stuck with $200,000 in loans that they won't be able to pay off for a long time.

    So we're going to make them have an incentive to keep their costs down. Right now, they have no incentive whatsoever. I watched this over a period of time, I figured it out very, very quickly. I'm good at that stuff, believe me. (Laughter.) And I just see their numbers go up so rapidly because they just don't have the burden on them. And we're going to put burden on the institutions.

    We want them to get the best peop- - teachers and the professors and the administrators and the heads, but the numbers are out of reality. And certainly, they make it out of reality for students when you have to pay back those loans someday.

    With today's action and every action to come, the Trump administration will fight for America's students. We're fighting very hard.

    And remember what I said: We're going to give the student loans - where you have way, way over a trillion dollars in student loans - we're going to start looking at that very seriously and help some of those students that are just mired in debt.

    We know that freedom must prevail on college campuses if freedom is to prosper in America. It's so important. And we believe that greatness must be practiced in our halls of learning if greatness is to thrive in our halls of government and our corridors of commerce.

    You're going to have great lives. But I want you to get off to a great start, not a start where you're behind a barricade that just doesn't let you succeed. And we're going to make it much easier for you - this administration - and we've worked very hard on it already.

    We'll be having some meetings. And we'll be having some very major discussions with some of the biggest colleges and universities. And we're going to have them shoulder some of the responsibility and some of the money that's necessary for you to use in order to get your education.

    To every student and young American here today: Don't let anyone stop you from doing what you know is right, from asking questions, from challenging the powerful, or from speaking your mind. And that's the primary reason we're here right now. You're going to speak your mind. You're going to be fair. You're going to reasonable. You're going to do it well. And you're going to speak your mind.

    Never ever quit, never give in, and never back down. Keep standing up for your values, for your classmates, and for your country. And you can be certain that, every day of my presidency, we will always support your rights, and your freedoms, and your future.

    Thank you all for being here. This is a great honor for me. I've been watching this for too long. I've been watching things that are unwatchable and I don't like it. But we're going to do something about it. See? We like to act, as opposed to just watching and saying, "Oh, isn't that a shame?" We don't say that. (Laughter.) We don't say that. (Applause.)


    And I want to congratulate everybody - everybody - for being here. You have just a tremendous future ahead of you and this will make it a lot easier. And you get that point of view across.

    And listen to the other point of view. Maybe you can changed and maybe not. I doubt it. (Laughter.) But maybe. You never know. And you what? If you can, that's okay. And you'll change them, too. You're going to change them, too. But, ultimately, it brings people together.

    So congratulations. I'll sign right now. Thank you all for being here. (Applause.)

    (The executive order is signed.)

    Thank you very much. (Applause.)

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