The One Big Beautiful Bill Reaches Financial Aid Offices
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained
Release Date: 07/08/2026
Predicting an Unpredictable Fall for Higher Ed
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained
Higher education is looking ahead to a busy fall, with midterm elections shaping the political landscape, an unfinished government funding process for FY 2027, and a wave of proposed rules working their way through various federal agencies. In the last eipsode of Season 7, the dotEDU hosts break down what campuses should expect in the months ahead.
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The One Big Beautiful Bill Reaches Financial Aid Offices
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained
The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) higher education provisions are effective July 1, and financial aid offices are on the front lines of putting them into practice. Melanie Storey, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, joins hosts Mushtaq Gunja and Jon Fansmith to talk about the implementation challenges, from new program-level accountability requirements to the practical questions about student aid that campuses are working through. Here are some of the links and references from this week’s show: "Uniform Guidance" Grantmaking Rule Regulation...
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The Future of the Education Department's Civil Rights Investigations
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained
The Department of Education is shifting civil rights investigations to the Department of Justice, a move that undermines the resolution-focused approach to resolving complaints that has supported students and campuses for decades. The dotEDU team breaks down what this latest move to dismantle ED means for higher ed, along with the latest updates on the House FY 2027 spending bill, changes to the rules for how federal grants are awarded, and more. Here are some of the links and references from this week’s show: U.S. Department of Education Announces Additional Partnerships to Strengthen...
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New Grant Rules, Accreditation, and the Summer Policy Outlook
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained
The hosts talk live to an audience of ACE Fellows about the White House's new proposal to rewrite the rulebook that governs how campuses manage federal grant funds, along with other higher education policy developments we're watching this summer. Here are some of the links mentioned in this week's show: Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards Department of Education...
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What Will It Take to Rebuild Trust in Higher Education?
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained
Yale University’s Committee on Trust in Higher Education spent a year examining the forces behind declining public confidence in colleges and universities and came back with 20 recommendations for how institutions can respond. Julia Adams, cochair of the committee, walks us through the findings and what they might mean for campuses nationwide. Here are links to the the report and the policy issues the hosts discuss: Report of the Yale Committee on Trust in Higher Education (PDF)...
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Continuing the College Access Conversation
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained
The landscape for federal TRIO programs has shifted dramatically since we talked about it in January. The Department of Education (ED) has issued new grant proposals that would cut the number of programs by more than half and fundamentally redirect TRIO away from its mission of college access. We welcomed back Kimberly Jones, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education, to walk us through what’s at stake for these programs and the students they serve. The hosts also give the latest updates on ED's negotiated rulemaking. Links: U.S. Department of Education Issues...
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Student Voting Is Getting Harder. Now What?
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained
Colleges have spent years building systems to help students vote. Now a mix of federal guidance, investigations, and state-level changes is putting new pressure on that work. ACE General Counsel Peter McDonough joins us to explain where the legal lines are and where uncertainty is creating risk. But first, the hosts discuss the recent higher education policy developments from the past few weeks, from the Trump administration's FY 2027 budget proposal to the Education Department's draft rule on accreditation.
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Workforce Pell, Professional Degrees, and a Complicated Spring in Washington
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained
The hosts are joined by ACE’s Emmanual Guillory to break down key federal rulemaking shaping student aid. The conversation focuses on the latest developments in graduate loan limits, new rules for Workforce Pell and what it will take for institutions to participate, and the Department of Education’s expanded IPEDS data collection.
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dotEDU Live at ACEx2026
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained
At ACEx2026 in Washington, DC, the dotEDU team recorded a special live episode during a session at the ACE Annual Meeting. Instead of the usual format, hosts Mushtaq Gunja, Sarah Spreitzer, and Jon Fansmith took turns posing questions to each other about the direction of federal higher education policy in 2026: how it may differ from the first year of President Trump’s second term, what the year’s major policy stories could be, where their lobbying efforts have and have not gained traction, and how to advocate effectively for colleges and universities in a contentious environment. The...
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A Funding Deal, the Pell Shortfall, and New Federal Pressure on Campuses
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained
The hosts run a rapid-fire policy lightning round on the biggest higher ed issues right now, from federal funding and a looming Pell shortfall to new graduate loan limits. They also dig into two fast-moving flashpoints: the Education Department’s scrutiny of a long-running student voting study and the administration’s escalating actions aimed at Harvard, including potential impacts on service members’ education benefits. Plus, an update on Sarah's favorite topic, Section 117 foreign gift reporting. Here are some of the links and references from this week’s show: Appropriations Inside...
info_outlineThe One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) higher education provisions are effective July 1, and financial aid offices are on the front lines of putting them into practice.
Melanie Storey, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, joins hosts Mushtaq Gunja and Jon Fansmith to talk about the implementation challenges, from new program-level accountability requirements to the practical questions about student aid that campuses are working through.
Here are some of the links and references from this week’s show:
"Uniform Guidance" Grantmaking Rule
Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance
Federal Register | May 28, 2026
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/29/2026-10817/regulation-for-federal-financial-assistance
Summary: Office of Management and Budget Government-Wide Regulations for Federal Financial Assistance
ACE | June 16, 2026
https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Summary-OMB-Federal-Financial-Assistance-Regs-060226.pdf
Sen. Collins Asks OMB to Withdraw Parts of Grant Rule, Extend Comment Period
U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations | July 6, 2026
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/sen-collins-asks-omb-to-withdraw-parts-of-grant-rule-extend-comment-period
Comments Flood OMB Proposal to Cement Political Control of Grants
Inside Higher Ed | July 7, 2026
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/science-research-policy/2026/07/07/comments-flood-omb-proposal-political-control
"Professional" Degree & Graduate Loan Limits Rule
Nursing Gains ‘Professional’ Label for Student Loans After Judge’s Ruling, But Theology Now Dropped
The Associated Press | June 29, 2026
https://apnews.com/article/nursing-student-loans-professional-caps-theology-061ef7c1a98688e5338ff5128821a7b9
Professional Degree Definition Remains Contested as Student Loan Changes Take Effect July 1
ACE | June 29, 2026
https://www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pages/New-ED-Rules-in-Effect-July-1.aspx
Accountability Rule (Earnings Test)
U.S. Department of Education Issues Final Rule to Hold All Colleges and Universities Accountable for Low-Earning Programs
Department of Education | June 29, 2026
https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-issues-final-rule-hold-all-colleges-and-universities-accountable-low-earning-programs
Financial Aid Shift to Hit Low-Wage Fields Like Religion, Cosmetology and Arts
The Washington Post | June 30, 2026
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/06/30/bible-beauty-performing-arts-schools-face-cuts-financial-aid/
Comments on Education Department’s Proposed Rule on Accountability
ACE | May 20, 2026
https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Comments-AHEAD-Accountability-NPRM-052026.pdf
OBBB Student Loan Changes
July 1 Brings Big Student Loan Changes. Here's What You Need to Know
NPR | June 30, 2026
https://www.npr.org/2026/06/10/nx-s1-5835633/student-loans-guide-education-changes-repayment-plan
Comments on the Education Department's Implementation of OBBB Financial Aid Provisions
ACE | March 2, 2026
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Comments-ED-RISE-030226.pdf
Judges Strike Down Trump’s Restrictions on Loan Forgiveness for Public Servants
The Washington Post | June 30, 2026
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/06/30/court-strikes-down-trumps-limits-loan-forgiveness-public-servants/
Dear Colleague Letter on Housing
Dear Colleague Letter
HUD | June 23, 2026
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28317431-06232026-as-trainors-dcl-on-racially-segregated-school-housing87/
Dear Colleague Letter Asks Colleges to End Affinity Housing
Inside Higher Ed | June 26, 2026
Supreme Court Ruling on Transgender Athletes
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/2026/06/26/dear-colleague-letter-asks-colleges-end-affinity-housing
Supreme Court Decision on Transgender Athletes
Supreme Court Allows States to Bar Transgender Athletes From Girls’ Sports
The New York Times | June 30, 2026n
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/us/politics/supreme-court-transgender-athletes.html