What’s in an education? Nowadays, it seems the answer changes on a whim. With the federal government’s recent decision to split degrees into “professional” and “nonprofessional” classifications, it’s not difficult to see that the perceived value of an education is continuing on a headlong dive into the abyss.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which contained the bulk of the Trump administration’s domestic policy goals, passed into law in July of this year. The provisions of the act have faced contention from the public and Capitol Hill. From a month-long battle between partisan lawmakers to prevent its passage to the recent shutdown caused by the bill’s amendments to the Affordable Care Act, this agenda has been a point of national reckoning regarding the federal government’s role in shaping the social safety net.
Less spoken of, however, is how the Big Beautiful Bill’s sweeping changes will shape higher education in the United States in the coming years. Under the provisions of the act, those pursuing a graduate-level program will face new roadblocks in obtaining substantive loans.
Under new guidelines, only a select number of professions will be considered “professional” — fields in which students are guaranteed a higher loan ceiling of $50,000 per year for a maximum of four years. These programs include dentistry, pharmacy, podiatry, law, theology, optometry, veterinary care, osteopathy, chiropractic care and medicine. However, programs that have been declassified, including nursing, social work and education, will not be able to withdraw funds in excess of $20,500 per year.
Although these changes do benefit professional students, allowing them to take out more money than what was previously allowed, newly classified nonprofessional degrees do not see the same benefit. Most importantly, however, the Big Beautiful Bill completely eliminated the Graduate PLUS program, which allowed students to borrow the full cost of their program. This means that students who cannot afford to pay the remainder of their degree will effectively be shut out of a lifeline.
While the Department of Education claims that the recent moves against graduate-level programs are not “a value judgement about [their] importance,” it is clear that the career pathways our government chooses to subsidize are those it sees as worthwhile. It should be seen as no coincidence that even though standards for K-12 education have been plummeting and teaching vacancies exist across 48 states, now a master’s in education will not be as subsidized as a bachelor’s in theology. And while the DOE derides previous administrations for their “unsustainable” loan repayment, the department is now being dismantled piece by piece. This administration does not value education — rather, they aim to suppress it.
The Big Beautiful Bill notwithstanding, the government’s continued attack on pillars of higher education has been on full display since the beginning of this year. In the spring, the current administration cut off research grants given to high-profile universities on the grounds of perceived antisemitism, citing pro-Palestinian demonstrations on their campuses.
Most notable is the administration’s fight with Harvard University, in which the president attempted to co-opt authority over Harvard’s diversity initiatives, foreign admissions and leadership. SUNY has been no stranger to this war, either, with a loss of $32 million in research funding and the temporary loss of legal status for 46 SUNY students with temporary visas.
At their best, our higher learning institutions are spaces where critical thinking skills are fostered, inclusive communities are developed and students graduate with skills that will set them up for long-term careers. These institutions are not meant to be tools for the state to enact its will. At a time when secondary and post-secondary education is prohibitively expensive, students depend on federal money for basic access, which makes it all the more sinister that our needs are being weaponized to fulfill a political project opposed to our interests.
While the changes in the Big Beautiful Bill may or may not directly affect one’s career prospects depending on the program, it’s become clear that this change is just one of many awaiting the U.S. education system, affecting the peers we study with, who we are educated by, what we study and the institutions we are given basic access to.
Education is not valuable for its own sake. It begets credibility, which in turn begets our participation in the workforce, but education is not simply a path to vocation. It seems the administration views a student’s education as akin to a financial asset, which is why the government hopes to transfer the Department of Education’s core functions to the Department of Labor.
It seems our government recognizes the role of the college as a place of critical ideological development. Otherwise, its continued attack on diversity initiatives, pro-Palestinian speech and the liberal arts would be for naught. It’s concerning that those in charge of subsidizing college cannot, or are willfully unable to, define their view. Instead, it seems our leaders seek to suppress views that challenge established beliefs.
And as a substantial number of Americans express limited confidence in higher education and its continued role in shaping the lives of up-and-coming students, it’s better we solve this issue sooner rather than later — before higher education becomes unreachable for those who need it most.
Kenneth Gao is a sophomore majoring in economics.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.