Now, the administration of President Donald Trump has indicated that it will release the roughly $6 billion that it had paused in education funding. 

According to Newsmax, the administration is expected to do so before the start of the new school year.

This appears to be a shift in stance from the Trump administration.

The Trump administration is releasing billions of dollars in grants to schools for adult literacy, English language instruction, and other programs, the Education Department said Friday. https://t.co/nunOH1Obtv

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) July 26, 2025

The details:

ABC News received this information from a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education.

Per the outlet:

The roughly $6 billion in education programming that was frozen by the Trump administration earlier this month is being released, according to a Department of Education spokesperson on Friday. This includes all title program funding for English language acquisition, teacher development, and adult education, among other programs, the spokesperson confirmed.

The outlet goes on to detail the letter sent by the department to states.

The outlet reports:

ABC News has obtained a copy of one of the letters that the U.S. Department of Education sent to states, notifying them that the funds will be released starting the week of Monday July 28, 2025. So far, state education agencies in Nebraska, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Utah have confirmed to ABC News that they have received notifications from the U.S. Dept. of Education that the funds will be released. The letter says that states are prohibited from violating federal laws, Office of Management and Budget regulations and presidential executive orders in utilizing the funds.

The question is why the change.

Background

Newsmax explains why it is that the Trump administration withheld the funds in the first place.

It reports:

President Donald Trump's administration had withheld $6 billion in funding on July 1 as part of a review to ensure spending aligned with the White House's priorities. Officials later said the department would release $1.3 billion of the money for after-school programs, days after 10 Republican senators sent a letter imploring the administration to allow frozen education money to be sent to states.

In other words, the administration wanted to ensure that schools that were receiving the funding were not doing things that misaligned with the current adminsitration.

It would now appear that the department completed its review of the situation, and, satisfied with the result, it is ready to release the funding.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said, "We want to make [sure] that we have the right focus on what we’re trying to do without students."