The Education Department moved forward with a new round of higher-education regulations under the “One Big Beautiful Bill” package, setting an earnings-based accountability test for programs that affects eligibility for federal student loans. Under the rule described by the department, undergraduate and graduate programs that fail the earnings threshold in two out of three consecutive years could lose access to federal loans, and in some cases Pell Grants. Under Secretary Nicholas Kent framed the policy as aligning aid with outcomes, telling student financial-aid administrators that the earnings test sets a “low bar” for program performance by comparing graduate earnings to state benchmarks tied to specific credential baselines. Critics warn the test could weaken the Biden-era gainful employment approach and make it easier for underperforming programs to remain eligible. The policy shift lands amid heavy compliance timelines for campuses preparing for start-of-term changes, putting more pressure on institutional reporting, program-level financial-aid compliance operations, and the ability to explain outcomes to prospective students and federal regulators.