By Svetlana Swietavosko
In the last few years, the Federal government has put noticeable effort into limiting humanities majors in universities across the country. As a result, many students now face challenges such as poor availability of courses required for completing their degree and potential risk of impeded graduation. Stopping endowment on the highest level for the given majors essentially gradually, yet consistently kills them and leaves the society with scarce access to qualified workforce for positions like educators, journalists, sociologists or justice studies professionals but most importantly, to politically aware citizens.
I’m currently in my second year of Political Science studies and while registering for courses for the next semester, I faced the following issue – after consulting with my faculty advisor – Dr. Anthony Sparacino, who is the Assistant Professor of Political Science, I was informed that many humanity courses were temporarily withdrawn. As it turned out, it wasn’t a problem only I encountered, as several students I talked to shared similar experiences of uncertainty.
One of the upper-sophomore students I talked to about the lack of resources, majoring in Sociology said: “I chose Sociology as a field of study because I was interested in the relationship between the individual and the society. But now, some of the courses I had planned to take are no longer available. It is frustrating to see subjects that I need to take to graduate, being cancelled with no advance notice. I sometimes think about whether it was the right major to choose in this political climate.”
Montclair State University students hold a mock funeral. Photograph: David Bien-Aime
In the 2025 budget of the United States Government (FY2025), the federal government spends approximately $1.42 trillion on national defense, which is 14 percent of a federal budget and $349 billion on education (3.4 percent of federal budget) – including all federal education programs across every agency. That’s a ratio of roughly 4 to 1. In 2025, more than 1400 grants in humanities worth approximately $100 million were cancelled for scholars and research groups by Trump’s administration. The data clearly showcases the government’s espoused priorities.
The cuts are also largely aimed at minorities and religious studies. Which raises the question: why does the Trump administration cut billions in federal research funding to universities that did not fall in line with its ideological agenda? Undeniably grants have become politicized in front of our eyes; today they are being committed, not to the needs of the society and its people, but to what is considered most profitable and aligned with current political narration. This is not funding; this is a very powerful tool in the hands of people with questionable intentions who are already enriched with immense authority.
Montclair State University students hold a mock funeral. Photograph: David Bien-Aime
