By: Karina Zambrano
In July 2026, the Trump administration released a proposal to amend the Student Tuition and Transparency Systems (STATS)/Earnings Accountability framework, a system that required colleges to submit information to the Department of Education (DOE) to provide full transparency to the public. The new guideline states that college degrees considered not profitable enough, by their standards, will face federal loan cuts.
Last month, The New Republic called out the Trump administration on X for the new guidelines, saying they were banning students from taking out loans. A day later, the DOE responded on X, saying, “This is fake news at its finest.”
The DOE would use IRS data to track undergraduate programs and see which of their graduates earned more than the average high school diploma worker, stated The New Republic. Graduate programs faced a similar test, in which their graduates needed to earn more than the average bachelor’s degree holder to meet the DOE’s new standards.
Any program that failed the test was deemed unprofitable and will lose loan eligibility starting July 2027, according to a DOE press release. A list of programs that scored lowest was released by Yahoo Finance, which included: Early Childhood Education, English Literature, Graphic Design, Fine/Studio Arts, Social Work/Mental Health Counseling, Religious Studies, Medical/Dental Assisting, and Culinary Arts, among others.
Former Rhode Island representative Patricia Morgan posted on X, saying the new standard “protects students and taxpayers.” The recent proposal states that these new changes are “the result of a number of concerns raised by institutions and researchers regarding the validity and usefulness of the D/E [debt-to-earnings] metric.”
Many critics worry that humanities and arts programs will face the biggest impact from the guidelines. There is also concern that careers are being judged only by income, not by their value to society. Journalist Vitus Sephar posted on TikTok criticizing the new policy for targeting women-dominated careers amidst a “trad-wife” trend.
In Aug., the DOE sent all colleges data on which programs met the new standard and required them to review and report any changes by Oct. 1, 2026.
According to a FAFSA notice, “more than 1,000 institutions failed to meet this reporting deadline and are now considered delinquent.” The institutions were given a final extension for Jan. 15, 2027, or else the DOE would take action against them, including “heightened cash monitoring, fines, sanctions, or other actions.”