Reshaping Higher Education With a Stroke of a Pen

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

Last year, President Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), with massive implications for the higher education system. New loan limits will govern federal lending for graduate students and parents of undergraduates; a raft of workforce development programs will become eligible for Pell Grant funding for the first time; a new accountability regime will require colleges to meet minimum earnings standards; and new borrowers will be required to repay their loans under an entirely new set of repayment options. The changes are likely to have huge impacts on access to postsecondary education, especially in certain sectors and for certain types of students. Today, the Education Department is developing rules to implement these changes, answering many of the open questions left by the legislation and generating guidelines for states as they implement key provisions. Students, institutions, and policymakers at every level are bracing for the effects of the new law.

This roundtable will feature researchers and policy experts who are working to understand the likely impacts, develop responses to the new law, and measure the scale and scope of the impacts for students and borrowers. Jordan Matsudaira, Professor at American University and Co-Director of the PEER Center, has led the Center’s work on the implications of student loan limits over the last two years, and has worked with several states to help them understand the impacts of the new accountability and Workforce Pell provisions. Rajeev Darolia, Professor at University of Kentucky, works in partnership with the state of Kentucky to help the state design its plans to implement the new Workforce Pell program. Joining the panel will be two additional policymakers with relevant state experience; we are still working to confirm these attendees, but have already conducted outreach to experts in Connecticut and several other states. Stephanie Cellini, Professor at The George Washington University and Co-Director of the Center, will moderate the panel.

Our roundtable will include detailed information about the nature of the sweeping OBBBA policy changes, as well as important insights about what to watch for next, as we work to spark a dialogue among researchers and policymakers about what and how to evaluate these watershed changes. The next several years will set the higher education sector on a path to major changes. Policy researchers can serve as the tip of the spear in measuring and evaluating the impacts of these changes to inform implementation and drive policy improvement.

Policy Area

• Education

Moderator

• Stephanie Riegg Cellini, George Washington University

Organizer

• Clare McCann, American University

Speakers

• Jordan D Matsudaira, American University

• Rajeev Darolia, University of Kentucky