White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier Thursday the executive order would not entirely shutter the agency but would "greatly minimize" it.
She also said the remaining agency would still oversee Pell Grants and student loans that provide financial aid for undergraduate students.
"It's not going to be shut down," Leavitt said. "Pell Grants and student loans will still be run out of the department in Washington, D.C., but the great responsibility of educating our nation's students will return to the states."
Trump said Thursday these programs and others that provide resources for children with special needs would remain but would fall under other agencies.
"They're going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them," Trump said.
