As Congress begins negotiations over the next K-12 and broader education budget landscape, House appropriators are also signaling possible structural changes to how higher education is funded. One proposal described suggests ending subsidized loans to help pay for Pell, alongside cuts to Work-Study and other programs. The package is framed as an offset strategy to preserve Pell capacity while reducing other student-aid mechanisms, potentially shifting costs and risk to students and families. Because subsidized loans affect interest accrual and overall borrower burden, their elimination can change borrowing behavior and enrollment decisions. For higher education leaders, the likely policy direction makes student financial aid planning more volatile—requiring scenario modeling for net price, institutional scholarship strategy, and demand forecasting tied to different student-aid mixes.