A clampdown on student voter mobilisation by the Trump administration has been labelled ¡°profoundly anti-democratic¡± and a clear sign that Republicans are already thinking ahead to the 2028 election.

The??students from participating in get-out-the-vote campaigns through paid Federal Work Study (FWS) programmes ¨C reversing a decision made by former president Joe Biden.

The government said money from the FWS, which helps eligible students pay for tuition through part-time work, should be spent on ¡°jobs that provide real-world work experience¡± instead of funding political activism on college and university campuses.

With a ¡°uniquely complex¡± election system and challenges and a limited election workforce, Sam Novey, chief strategist at the University of Maryland Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement, said non-partisan efforts such as this are ¡°crucial¡±.

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¡°The use of a work study programme to help give students an opportunity to contribute to that process and bring the skills and strengths that they have and also to cultivate them as leaders who can help strengthen [US democracy] for years to come was really exciting, and really necessary.¡±

It is also concerning that the letter conflates nonpartisan work that serves everyone regardless of their views with more partisan campaigning and activism, he added.

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Paul Loeb, an author and founder of the nonpartisan Campus Election Engagement Project (CEEP), said the order will make it harder for?universities to promote civic engagement and voting in general.

He said this fits in with the Republican Party¡¯s efforts to make voting more difficult in some states, including prohibiting on-campus voting, prohibiting the use of student ID as voter ID, or making it more difficult for students to register at their campus addresses.

¡°The logical conclusion¡­is that they were doing so because they thought students would vote for Democrats, so wanted to deter them from voting at all.

¡°That¡¯s profoundly undemocratic, and I¡¯d argue that the Department of Education action on work study is part of that. I think they¡¯re doing this because they believe it will advantage them in 2026 and 2028.¡±

While students have long been viewed as reliably left wing, recent years have?suggested that campuses are more evenly split than once thought.

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Amy Binder, professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University, said viewing get-out-the-vote efforts as student activism is a ¡°sad statement¡± on how the White House treats the electoral process.

¡°It is another example of top-down interference from the federal government, in what it thinks is its own political interest, in the business of colleges and universities. It is also another instance of the administration cutting young people out of various forms of public service.¡±

Although not necessarily anti-democratic, Binder said it is a clear sign that Republicans are hoping to prevent Democrats from?copying the success Turning Point USA had in energising right-wing students in 2024.

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¡°Everything the administration does is a zero-sum game. Making it harder for young people to vote is meant to?produce fewer Democratic voters sending in their ballots or showing up at the polls.¡±

Trump has long claimed that widescale voter fraud helps the Democrats receive millions more votes than they should. The ED bulletin also asked institutions to notify all students that only US citizens can vote in federal elections and that voting more than once is illegal.

In a statement, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge said it remains committed to supporting campuses to increase nonpartisan student voter participation.

¡°We are disappointed by any attempt to make it harder for young people to participate in our democracy and access civic engagement opportunities during their college experience that will inspire them to be active citizens.¡±

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com