Ciera Killen’s greatest aspiration in life is to help people across the world who are less fortunate than her, but lately she’s been worried that might not happen.
As a third-year student of public policy at the College of William & Mary, Killen threw herself toward her dreams when she earned an internship with the U.S. Agency for International Development — one of the departments President Donald Trump has on the chopping block with his proposed budget.
“I’m really scared and nervous about my potential to be employed after college because all I’ve studied is how to be a bureaucrat in government,” Killen said.
While landing a job straight out of college is a challenge for anyone, it can be especially hard for students seeking a career in the federal government.
In March, President Trump’s proposed budget called for massive cuts in the federal government’s discretionary spending. The cuts would greatly impact many agencies William and Mary graduates look to for employment in the federal workforce.
With many areas of government looking at diminished budgets, Killen and other government students at William and Mary are looking for encouragement from their professors and the high-profile visitors to the college.
Killen along with 200 of her William and Mary classmates packed the Sadler Center earlier in April to hear Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) speak about Trump’s budget proposal among other topics.
Warner himself is concerned the current political climate may turn off students.
“With all of the shrill back and forth in politics, I don’t want people to opt out,” Warner said. “I don’t want everybody here to say ‘I’ll just do investment banking instead of public service. We need people more than ever, and I don’t care which political party, we need people that want to help and want to be part of the solution.”
The major reductions in discretionary spending — impacting the Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department and the Agriculture Department in particular — could result in significant job losses for Virginians. However, until a full budget proposal is released later this spring there are few numbers to quantify how many jobs would be lost.
The budget proposal also looks to cut education funding in the United States, something Sen. Mark Warner feels adds insult to injury.
“It really worries me for these students,” Warner said. “It also worries me about the existing federal workforce.”
In the 102 days since Trump’s inauguration, professors at the college also have their concerns. Many are teaching not only course material but something more: perseverance.
Professor John McGlennon, a longtime educator at the college, said part of the problem is that young people fundamentally disagree with the Trump administration’s policies on subjects like science, education and diplomacy.
“In this case, the degree of difference is much greater, and young people are among those most at odds with the administration,” McGlennon said.
Department of Government Chairman Paul Manna said the federal workforce was becoming even more educated, leading undergraduate students to further their education in a graduate school.
Now, he says, students might be even more unwilling to take on the extra debt to attain that education if their job prospects are looking poorly.
“Getting a job this year that might disappear a year from now isn’t a prospect that many students would find comforting,” Manna said.
Killen appreciates the words of encouragement from her professors and from Warner. She said she still has hope for a future working in government despite her disagreements with Trump’s policies.
“I believe the United States has the power and the resources to help so many people,” Killen said. “And I want to be a part of that.”
