It’s a classic case of the liberal media overreacting, though you could see why: over the summer, the Trump administration announced some tweaks to college loans. Some degrees with a poor return on investment, to say the least, might not be eligible. Look, I can see both sides: first, it’s not smart to graduate with a degree in gender studies saddled with $120,000+ in debt. Then again, this is America: make what you will of your higher education. But leave it to the New Republic to declare these revisions a ban:

President Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. 

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that the Education Department has finalized a rule that will force schools to prove that the loans students are taking out are paying off. 

Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music, and cosmetic certification programs will be hit the hardest. For-profit programs will also be hit particularly hard.

While the Trump administration is framing the policy as “accountability” for higher education, and some are welcoming the move, others see it as an attack on those whose work is important regardless of salary. 

The Education Department intends to use IRS data to determine students’ salaries four years after they graduate and compare them to those of people similar in age who just have high school diplomas. If they’re below that baseline, that degree will be ineligible for loans. 

It’s not a ban:

This is fake news at its finest. 

First off, we’re not ‘banning’ any program. The federal government doesn’t set curriculum or programs. 

Here’s the truth: we are holding colleges accountable for leaving students worse off than if they never enrolled. Too many graduates report delaying major life milestones like buying a home or starting a family. Why? Because low return-on-investment programs saddled them with unmanageable debt that was never going to translate into a real-world job. 

Federal student loans are not a welfare program for failing college programs. American students deserve education and training pathways that prepare them for the workforce – and transparency about programs that will never pay off.

But the new policy is reportedly being felt already with graduate students at George Washington University:

Graduate students said they feel uncertain about their ability to pay for their education and enroll in further graduate studies after President Donald Trump’s cuts to federal student aid went into effect this academic year.

Ten graduate students said Trump’s tightening of student borrowing limits and elimination of the Grad PLUS program — which allowed students to borrow up to their remaining cost of attendance — has forced them to grapple with considering private loans, choosing shorter programs and rethinking how to pursue further studies after their master’s programs following the One Big Beautiful Bill Act going into effect July 1. While most current graduate students have been grandfathered into the program, which means the previous provisions of the plan still apply to them, students reported they are experiencing processing delays for their federal loans as the University navigates new federal restrictions.

OBBBA, which Trump signed into law on July 4, 2024, cut $307 billion in federal student aid when it went into effect on July 1 and capped graduate student lending at $20,500 in federal funding a year, with a $100,000 lifetime borrowing limit, or $50,000 a year with a $200,000 lifetime limit if they’re in a professional school like medical or law, according to the Federal Student Aid website.

College loan debt ballooned under Obama when he announced the government would get into this business. With guaranteed money streams, why wouldn’t higher education institutions jack up tuition rates? They did. It’s long overdue for a course correction here.