On July 4, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which increased national defense spending, extended tax cuts from his first term, and reduced funding for other social safety net programs.
According to projections from the Congressional Budget Office, the largest cuts were made to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which together saw cuts of over $1 trillion. The act also imposed debt caps and ended graduate student loan programs. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will affect pupils in the following ways:
Students’ SNAP reduction
The CBO anticipates that over the next ten years, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will reduce SNAP funding by $186 billion. Among the act’s most significant cuts to social safety net programs is this one.
In an email, Beth Corbett, the Central Texas Food Bank’s vice president of government affairs and lobbying, stated that the SNAP cuts would discourage potential students from going to college.
According to Corbett, the possible effects of these new qualifying restrictions could be particularly felt in rural areas, where employment opportunities may be few and there are fewer possibilities for enrolling in postsecondary education and vocational training. There is a good chance that fewer people will decide to seek further education in favor of professional alternatives that do not require secondary school in order to meet SNAP work requirements.
Students who work part-time or have other financial obligations might have to take on more duties as a result of the food stamp changes, according to Steven Pedigo, director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Urban Lab, an organization that studies issues impacting urban populations. Like White, Pedigo is worried about how the SNAP reduction will mostly affect kids with lower incomes.
According to Pedigo, kids from lower-income families frequently have to self-finance or self-generate the money in order to attend college. When these kinds of cuts are made, there’s always a chance that some of our most vulnerable students and community members will be affected.
States’ responses to the SNAP reduction are a source of concern for Corbett, White, and Pedigo over their effects on education. They fear that states may reduce funding for other programs, such as universities, if they are forced to make up the SNAP shortages left by the law.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s precise and long-term effects on students, however, are yet unknown because many of its cuts won’t be implemented for months or even years.
According to Corbett, it is yet unknown what the long-term effects of these modifications to SNAP eligibility will be. To solve food insecurity, relying more on the nonprofit food network is not a long-term answer.
Loan limitations are set and Grad PLUS is discontinued.
Graduate students seeking post-graduate degrees are granted direct plus loans, sometimes known as grad PLUS loans, to cover their whole cost of tuition, less any financial aid.
Although borrowers will still be able to apply until June 2026, the reconciliation bill would end the grad PLUS loan program in July 2026. The assistance will be provided to them through the 2028–2029 academic year.
Middle-class to lower-class students who might not otherwise be able to pay for tuition will be significantly impacted by this measure, according to Rachel White, an associate professor in the department of educational leadership and policy.
That, in my opinion, runs opposed to our desire to embrace the American Dream, White stated. We do have mechanisms in place to assist students in pursuing and achieving these kinds of jobs, irrespective of their background.
Additionally, the law eliminates grad PLUS and caps federal student loans for master’s degrees at $20,500 annually and a $100,000 total cap per student, which was formerly $138,500.
According to White, if students intend to pursue a postgraduate degree, which may be more difficult for them to obtain, these changes may put pressure on them to seek private loans to pay for their tuition.
According to White, the interest rates on those loans are frequently higher. Additionally, they require an application evaluation, which may prevent some students from receiving those loans, especially during a time when we are in dire need of medical experts.
Additionally, the law caps parental student loans under the Parent PLUS program. In the past, parents could take out loans up to their child’s tuition. There is now a $20,000 annual cap and a $65,000 cap per child.
Additionally, the statute reduces the number of loan repayment options to two that borrowers can select from. These are the Repayment Assistance Plan, which gives loan forgiveness after 30 years of repayment and needs monthly payments dependent on the borrower’s income, and the Standard Repayment Plan, which has fixed payments and is paid off in 10 to 25 years.
People will truly consider the investment they are making in their higher education if some of these repayment schemes are changed, according to White. Considering the long run, how much debt are they prepared to take on in order to earn a degree, and how long will it take them to repay it?
