New Education Department guidelines being finalized threaten federal-loan eligibility for nearly half of graduate programs in visual arts, music, and performance, based on an “earnings test” that uses alumni income outcomes, according to reporting. The proposal would evaluate whether alumni earnings—calculated four years after graduation for master’s programs—exceed a median-salary threshold set against working adults with bachelor’s degrees. Programs that fail the test twice within three years could lose the ability to enroll students who rely on federal loans. Experts warn that the policy could trigger enrollment declines and, for some institutions, closures, given how specialized graduate arts programs often have uneven earnings trajectories early in alumni careers. The change marks a major shift in how federal compliance could be operationalized for discipline-specific graduate offerings, placing institutional outcomes measurement at the center of federal eligibility decisions.