The U.S. Department of Education told states it will keep billions of federal K-12 dollars flowing through the ED grant portal for now, responding to concerns about the July 1 formula grant timeline. Assistant Secretary Kirsten Baesler said the department is addressing state readiness issues rather than accelerating a shift to other agencies’ channels. Separately, the Education Department published a new accountability metric proposal tied to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, setting out how programs could be evaluated on degree-level earnings outcomes. Under the framework, institutions could lose access to federal student loans if programs fail the metric for two out of three consecutive years; Pell impacts could follow depending on circumstances. The combination of “delivery mechanics” for existing funding and “performance gates” for future federal aid underscores how quickly federal policy is moving from operational compliance to outcome accountability. Higher education leaders are likely to face dual pressures: maintaining timely drawdowns for current programs while preparing data, reporting, and program design changes for any rule finalization.