The U.S. Department of Education issued formal guidance warning hundreds of institutions that low student loan repayment rates could jeopardize access to federal aid. The guidance told institutional leaders—not just financial‑aid offices—to prioritize practices that reduce delinquency and defaults and documented that eligibility could be rescinded for persistently poor performance. The notice escalates the department’s accountability push amid heightened scrutiny of college value and outcomes. It joins other administration tactics that use federal funding rules to press colleges on campus conduct, diversity programming and grievance responses. University CFOs, financial‑aid directors and enrollment officers face a concrete operational implication: repayment metrics are now an explicit reputational and regulatory lever. Institutions with large cohorts of borrowers or weak postgraduation earnings must accelerate counseling, repayment‑tracking systems and partnerships with servicers to mitigate the risk of federal sanctions. Higher‑education associations are preparing to contest overly broad enforcement that could hit public and nonprofit colleges serving low‑income students. For campus leaders, the guidance signals an expanded role for senior management in student financial outcomes.