College finance leaders at NACUBO’s annual conference described a heightened “defensive posture” as federal policy changes accelerate and final regulations arrive with uncertainty. American Council on Education President Ted Mitchell said institutions have had to discard prior policy agendas and instead plan for rapidly shifting rules. A central concern is the new wave of limits on federal student lending, including the sunsetting of the Grad PLUS loan program and lifetime caps on borrowing. NACUBO Education Policy Director Bryan Dickson characterized the loan policies as among the most impactful changes since the start of the Trump administration. Even when statutes are clear, implementation has legal and regulatory ambiguity—such as how the Education Department will define which graduate programs qualify as “professional” degrees, affecting whether borrowers can access up to $200,000 or only half that threshold.