By Mike Bilfinger, Assistant Director, Public Policy, ̽»¨Â¥
Trying to keep up with all the provocative headlines related to higher education can feel dizzying. From the administration’s efforts to strip Harvard University of federal funding and its tax-exempt status, to the revocation of student visas, to the dozens of investigations into institutions for alleged violations of federal law, it’s understandable to seek clarity and distance ourselves from the news cycle.
However, if there is one new issue that we as a higher education community need to follow and engage with, it's the of a bill called the , which could significantly impact higher education and local communities.
The House E&W Committee passed the Student Success and Taxpayer Savings Plan by a party-line vote on April 29, 2025. It proposes to cut $330 billion from federal education spending by making related to federal student aid, Pell Grants, institutional accountability, and more.
Impact on Student Loans
Regarding student loans, the plan proposes terminating subsidized loans for undergraduate students and Grad PLUS loans for graduate and professional students.
The plan would lower aggregate loan limits from $57,500 to $50,000 for undergraduates and from $138,500 to $100,000 for graduate borrowers who have not been previously enrolled in a program as a professional student.
Furthermore, beginning July 1, 2026, the bill would set a $200,000 maximum borrowing limit for all learners.
The bill would also eliminate all current student loan repayment options after July 1, 2026, in favor of creating a new standard repayment plan and a new income-based repayment plan.
The new standard repayment plan would require borrowers to pay a fixed amount for 10 to 25 years, depending on their loan balance.
The new income-based plan would require borrowers to make monthly payments for 30 years based on a sliding scale from $120 to 10% of the borrower’s adjusted gross income.
The Student Borrower Protection Center’s of this proposal found that a typical current student loan borrower with a college degree will be forced to pay an additional $2,928 per year when compared to the SAVE plan.
Impact on Pell Grants
Related to Pell Grants, the bill would:
Change full-time status from 24 semester hours or 36 quarter credit hours to 30 semester hours or 45 quarter credit hours.
Make learners with a high and those enrolled less than half-time ineligible for the Pell Grant.
Concerns and Considerations
̽»¨Â¥ is deeply concerned by the proposed changes, while acknowledging that the legislation has some positive aspects, such as expanding Pell Grant eligibility for short-term programs and allowing borrowers to take advantage of loan rehabilitation twice rather than just once.
Perhaps most worrying is the bill’s proposal to create a risk-sharing process that would require institutions participating in the Direct Loan program to make payments to the U.S. Department of Education for student loans not repaid in full. This will likely penalize the very institutions serving the largest numbers of those students who struggle most in the labor market: low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented student populations.
What You Can Do
The ̽»¨Â¥ Government Relations team has created specific campaigns in the Advocacy Center of our website where you can send a letter to your congressional representatives expressing your concerns. You simply need to press the blue “Take Action” button, input your address, name, and some other basic information, and the system will take care of the rest.
Take Action Regarding the Student Success and Taxpayer Savings Plan: Send a letter to your congressional representatives expressing your concerns with the recent bill markup by the House Education & Workforce Committee that could significantly impact higher education and local communities.
Take Action to Support the U.S. Department of Education: Send a letter to your congressional representatives in support of the U.S. Department of Education. In 2023, Congress attempted to abolish the Department, but the effort only had six cosponsors, and 60 Republicans joined all House Democrats in voting against it. Seven Democrats in the Senate would still need to vote for any bill, which is a high barrier to overcome, even with the Republican majority.