Trade schools set to gain from Trump, Ivy League disputes

President Trump is looking to leverage settlements with Ivy League schools to fund workforce development initiatives 

Trade schools stand to receive significant funds from legal settlements between Ivy League universities and the Trump administration. 

This approach to funding vocational schools is interesting. The idea being to have ivy league institutions fund trade schools and vocational education as part of their negotiations to restore federal funding. Brown University looks set to exactly that, having already allocated $50 million over the next 10 years on workforce training.

Nick Moore, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Education Department’s Office of Career, Technical and Education, says he doesn’t view a potential redistribution of wealth to vocational programs as a punishment so much as a corrective. “Our current workforce system is not sufficient to meet our economic trajectory,” he said. “And there is probably no industry that is more removed from market dynamics than higher education.”

The question is, can this be an effective path forward for vocational training and jobs in general? Does the fact that higher ed is so far removed from market dynamics hinder its ability to be a good steward of funding for vocational education?

SOURCES:  www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-...ash-to-trade-schools
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