Trump’s announcement of Federal student loan access on specific degree programs has left students in shock. This has caused wide discussion of what will happen to the accessibility of these degrees.
Since signing the One Big Beautiful Bill, the Trump administration has made new finance changes in undergraduate and graduate studies. Trump has now cut access to federal loans with degrees tied to “failing programs.” A failing program constitutes a degree where graduates are in a worse financial position than if they had never entered college at all.
4 years prior to graduation, if a graduate is earning less than a person who only obtained a High School diploma or GED, then the Department of Education has ruled to cut federal student loan access to the program held at that college. This is to prevent future students from allocating student loan debt where they are unable to repay.
Data collected from the Department of Education shows that graduates who earned a degree in Literature, Fine Arts, Music, Social Work, Religious Studies, Cosmetology, and Medical & Dental Assisting are most highly affected by these cuts. This means that students who are going into these studies will not have access to federal loans for their education.
They are, “Holding colleges accountable for leaving students worse off than if they never enrolled.” stated the Department of Education.
It’s clear that the Trump administration is trying to address the issue of loan debt, but how it’s being addressed is a bad approach. This isn’t an education problem — colleges are known to prepare their students for their fields of study, not to teach them finances.
These cuts are targeted to low-income students, which begs the question if this is just another way for minorities to become more isolated from obtaining a higher financial status.
Not letting college students access federal loans does not prevent them from accumulating student loan debt. As a matter of fact, this causes them to get in more debt because federal loans are known to be easier to access and pay off than private loans.
If we want a better economy then we should not cut back student loan access towards low-income students who are known to enter these highly impacted degrees. This will lead low-income students to be more in debt if the cut backs never existed in the first place.
The Trump administration should be more aware of how this is an economic issue rather than an education issue. According to Freopp, it states that “17% of programs at schools serving low income students have an ROI exceeding $250,000.”
ROI is return of investment, and is based on the cost for college and subtract that by how much a graduate is earning. With the studies conducted by Freopp it has shown that the more a student is low-income the more rare it is for them to earn a high ROI.
ROI is being used by the Department of Education to determine if a program in a university or college will have access to federal student loans.
Low-income graduates need a high ROI because it allows whichever school they graduated from to continue to have financial support for their peers. It also allows students to complete life goals such as owning a house, opening a new business, and entering retirement with enough money to live off of.
“I feel that the government makes it seem not worth it. I would like to make it to my masters degree, because I want to open my own business. It’s messed up since I want to help people who need mental support.” stated by HP senior and who is planning to major in Social Work, Gabriel Rea.
This is why student loan debt is an economic issue rather than an educational issue since jobs aren’t currently paying enough for graduates to earn enough money to support themselves. Therefore cutting access to students who are enrolled in the highly affected degree programs.
Future students of highly affected degrees, will lose access to resources that they need to finish their education, and the chance to be given the opportunity to earn more. The Trump administration is punishing students who have little to no experience of the field of study they are entering into, by cutting access to one of their main supports to pay off tuition and housing.
“I hope I enter a replanment plan that is not harsh. I do want to purchase a home one day.” states Bryan Otanez, a current grad-student at Loyola Marymount University.
Students currently enrolled in these highly impacted degrees have to choose between changing their major or not continuing their education since many feel that these cuts are going to drive people away from these degrees.
These federal loan cuts are going to cause students and incoming freshmen to steer away from these degrees. Worse, it will lead students into more student loan debt by making them search for financial aid by private loans which are harder to pay off than federal loans.
Written by: Nancy Portillo, Opinions Editor