The U.S. Department of Education moved to implement sweeping federal student-aid changes tied to the One Big Beautiful Bill, but the rollout is unfolding amid fast-moving legal challenges. Under new rules effective this week, undergraduate and graduate programs face an earnings test tied to reported graduate outcomes; programs that fail the threshold in two of three consecutive years risk losing eligibility for federal loans. During the implementation window, ED officials also issued an updated list of professional graduate degrees eligible for higher loan caps after a judge temporarily blocked the department’s earlier definition. In a Monday notice, ED said it would apply the statutory definition while litigation continues, expanding the count of programs treated as professional degrees from 11 to 29, including three nursing degrees. At the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators conference, Under Secretary Nicholas Kent previewed the administration’s intent and framed the changes as historic financial-aid updates. Kent described the earnings-test requirements and loan-limit adjustments as part of a pathway to better outcomes for students. For colleges and universities, the near-term operational task is compliance forecasting: institutions must assess program-level earnings performance risk and decide how to manage student borrowing limits while court challenges proceed and classifications remain in flux.