Posted on 02/09/2026 7:37:58 AM PST by Twotone
Some college programs whose graduates earn less than workers with only a high school diploma could lose access to federal student loans under the Republicans' "big, beautiful bill" act, a change that could impact about 40,000 U.S. college students, according to a recent analysis.
About 2% of U.S. associate and bachelor's degree-granting programs are at risk under the new provision, called "do no harm," which takes effect in July, according to research from the HEA Group, a higher-education research firm.
The provision, part of the GOP tax and spending law's overhaul of student loans, requires programs to show that graduates earn more than high school graduates. College arts, religion and trade programs such as cosmetology are the most likely to be cut off from federal student loans, according to HEA.
The new rule reflects Republican efforts to bar federal student loans for degrees that "leave students worse off than if they never went to college," according to a 2025 statement from the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
The value of a college education has increasingly come into question in recent years, especially as tuition costs have soared, leaving millions of Americans saddled with $1.8 trillion in student loans.
"There is a piece of law that states that each and every degree program should now be required to demonstrate that the majority of their graduates earn more than a high school graduate," Michael Itzkowitz, president of HEA Group, told CBS News. "There is an intuitive understanding that if you go to college, you should make more than someone who doesn't go to college."
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
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It’s a step in the right direction.
A better solution: Make the college a co-signer on the loan.
Then if the college still wants to push a worthless degree on a naive student, go right ahead.
Shouldn’t be 100 percent of the loan but colleges definitely need some skin in the game.
But, but, they have great DEI programs!
Agreed. I’m not sure how to really solve this but possibly by having some sort of “job demand coefficient” as a multiplier against what a degree costs. The lower the coefficient the less you can get a loan for.
Nobody should be going into massive debt for a liberal arts degree, especially without being educated on the likely outcome.
Talk about setting a low bar!
A basic humanities degree 4-year college graduate earns $15,000 more per year income than a HS graduate ($400k more lifetime).
Two years of vocational / trade school training beats the heck out of a HS diploma.
Interesting and brilliant approach to getting rid of DEI, women’s studies, and Sociology departments.
Cancel Psychology and Sociology degrees. My ex-son in law hs a Masters in Psychology and makes more money driving a forklift at the local factory.
My cousin has a PhD in Psychology and is feeding goats in Vermont.
Do they have to earn more than a high school grad with no vocational training whatsoever or more than a vocational/technical school grad? That can make a very big difference.
Also, isn’t this to the benefit of elite schools that charge massive tuition but offer the reputation and connections that could get grads high-paying jobs? We may get the money back, but we’re still subsidizing their inflated tuition bills.
Maybe we can start taxing those endowments.
Go back to the NDEA ... STEM only.
Should universities be responsible for programs with no marketable skills and unsustainable debt for the students?
Nothing wrong with a traditional Liberal Arts education, the idea is to train you how to think, and not to indoctrinate.
That tell you everything you need to know about modern colleges. Take on anywhere from $100K to several hundred thousand of debt to make less than someone with a high school diploma.
One harm of dependency on student loans for advanced education is the loss of the value of learning for its own sake. Now it has become tied into the monetary value of the degree. Which makes sense when it is someone else’s money.
It has also meant that high schools no longer prepare students to be able to earn a living upon graduation because it is assumed that degree programs offered by local colleges are a necessary part of entering the workforce and earning decent wages.
Finally someone defending a traditional Liberal Arts education. Dead White Males for the Win!
“Hey Hey Ho Ho Western Civ Has Got To Go!”
Well they are getting their wish, but I don’t think they’re gonna like it.
I agree. A free and learned populace needs to know how to think and apply logic when confronted with the mass of lies perpetuated on us. They need to be able to defend the values that helped create this nation and why those values still matter.
Beyond the political philosophy grounded in Western Civilization is something that is often forgotten. Western Civilization’s defense of beauty. Beauty has in what is really beautiful not as in pretty. Striving to create and share what reflects the goodness in man whether it is music or art or architecture or literature illustrates a hope for a better world.
Those who despise Western Civilization yearn for destruction and sneer at beauty. They traffic in despair and want a populace who feel hopeless. This shows me the battle is not just political or ideological but spiritual.
it sure is, but the 600k Chinese spies cordially invited to study at American colleges is still a big, disappointing head-scratcher for me
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