Now that the Big Beautiful Bill is the law of the land and has been signed by President Trump, I would like to look to the future and share some insights on important topics and outcomes.
Abdullah- I have looked specifically for the reconciled, signed version of the BBB, and have come up with this. Information on the College Cost Reduction Act in Google varies depending on specifics of how the inquiry is worded. It seems from my investigation that much of it has been incorporated into the "Big Beautiful Bill", which was of course passed. The specific provision on making institutions ineligible for federal student loans based on a comparison of earning outcomes with non-college-educated workers, however, was excluded, according to this summary of the entire legislation, shown under "Student Loans and Higher Education Provisions", sub-category "Ineligibility Based on Low Earning Outcomes":
Thanks for doing your due diligence. I might be reading it incorrectly, but it is included in the final version, although it was not in the initial house version. I will look more into it.
I read you "Accountability Measures" piece as well as the link. The article in the link is interesting, but I did not see in it specific support for your contention that "One analysis found that fewer than half of two-year degree programs would pass this earnings test." My supposition is that this would be because the law's wording says that the comparison is based on ALL students who attend the college, and two-year programs have much higher dropout rates on average than 4-year programs. Since I work for a 2-year college, this is worrisome to me -- I suppose that when you say failing schools would "lose access to federal loans for at least two years", this includes Pell grants, which 26.6% of HCC students received in 2024 -- we are one of the largest urban colleges in the United States, and that would be an utter disaster for our institution and for the low-income population of Houston, to say nothing about prospective employers -- 40% of Houston's households have an income under $50K.
I have always said that education should not be a profit motive by the government. Student loans should have been interest free. These changes will combat the progress that has been made. Coupled with the cuts in education im genuinely worried now. Its very worrisome.
This is a tough one to see go through because we all know the power of a college degree, both financially but also personally. It's sad to think about how many amazing students there are on the margin who will now miss out on that opportunity.
Abdullah- I have looked specifically for the reconciled, signed version of the BBB, and have come up with this. Information on the College Cost Reduction Act in Google varies depending on specifics of how the inquiry is worded. It seems from my investigation that much of it has been incorporated into the "Big Beautiful Bill", which was of course passed. The specific provision on making institutions ineligible for federal student loans based on a comparison of earning outcomes with non-college-educated workers, however, was excluded, according to this summary of the entire legislation, shown under "Student Loans and Higher Education Provisions", sub-category "Ineligibility Based on Low Earning Outcomes":
source: https://www.cu.edu/blog/government-relations/cu-summary-one-big-beautiful-bill-act
Hurray. For now
Thanks for doing your due diligence. I might be reading it incorrectly, but it is included in the final version, although it was not in the initial house version. I will look more into it.
I read you "Accountability Measures" piece as well as the link. The article in the link is interesting, but I did not see in it specific support for your contention that "One analysis found that fewer than half of two-year degree programs would pass this earnings test." My supposition is that this would be because the law's wording says that the comparison is based on ALL students who attend the college, and two-year programs have much higher dropout rates on average than 4-year programs. Since I work for a 2-year college, this is worrisome to me -- I suppose that when you say failing schools would "lose access to federal loans for at least two years", this includes Pell grants, which 26.6% of HCC students received in 2024 -- we are one of the largest urban colleges in the United States, and that would be an utter disaster for our institution and for the low-income population of Houston, to say nothing about prospective employers -- 40% of Houston's households have an income under $50K.
I have always said that education should not be a profit motive by the government. Student loans should have been interest free. These changes will combat the progress that has been made. Coupled with the cuts in education im genuinely worried now. Its very worrisome.
This is a tough one to see go through because we all know the power of a college degree, both financially but also personally. It's sad to think about how many amazing students there are on the margin who will now miss out on that opportunity.
Education is easy to cut because the costs are recouped immediately but the losses aren’t felt for decades.
I worry about education becoming a luxury. I know it seems far fetch but stranger things are happening.