New Department of Education loan and earnings-test regulations began taking effect as part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” including tighter eligibility standards for federal loans and Pell Grant access. Under the earnings test, programs can lose eligibility if they fail thresholds in two of three consecutive years, with graduate comparisons also shifting against broader credential benchmarks. Nicholas Kent told financial aid administrators the rules represent some of the “biggest changes in financial-aid history,” while critics warned the new approach could weaken the earlier gainful employment guardrails and allow poorer-performing programs to keep federal aid eligibility. This regulatory rollout is landing alongside court interventions. Federal judges have also blocked key Trump-era PSLF eligibility restrictions, calling the restrictions arbitrary and capricious or in violation of First Amendment protections. The combined effect is a high-velocity compliance landscape for financial aid offices, with significant implications for institutional risk management and borrower outcomes.