The U.S. Department of Education’s proposed rules would change how colleges maintain eligibility for federal student loans by introducing new earnings-based tests for undergraduate and graduate programs. Under the draft, undergraduate programs would lose eligibility if most graduates earn less than workers with only a high school diploma in the same state. For graduate programs, the proposal would compare graduates against workers with bachelor’s degrees. Lawmakers and higher-education experts argue the approach could weaken existing gainful employment protections intended to prevent career programs from saddling students with unmanageable debt. The public comment period closed with more than 10,000 responses, while the proposal draws connections to earlier Republican legislative priorities enacted through a sweeping federal spending package. Critics say the Education Department must improve its capacity to oversee the changes and better protect students from low-quality programs.