A recent U.S. News & World Report survey with 1,190 respondents found that President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act has made 35% of college students look into cutting back on schooling and 32% consider a different degree.
The act established new loan limits for graduate and professional student borrowers and terminated Graduate PLUS loans — a program that allowed grad students to continue to take out loans at higher rates once they have reached their borrowing limit.
It also eliminates certain repayment options including the SAVE Plan introduced by former President Joe Biden, which cut payments on undergraduate loans, gave early loan forgiveness for low-balance borrowers and never increased borrowers’ balances as long as they kept up with their required payment.
Students may consider changing their degree in particular if they will be affected by the elimination of Grad PLUS loans, author of the survey and consumer lending analyst Erika Giovanetti said.
“The kind of students that are impacted are going to be those pre-med students who are planning on going to medical school,” Giovanetti said. “… The cost of the [medical] school is beyond what is capped at the usual borrowing limits. So these students might normally rely on Grad PLUS loans to help them finish their degree.”
But, due to the elimination of Grad PLUS loans, these graduate students might switch to a shorter program with less years of having to pay tuition.
One surveyed undergraduate student transferred from a pre-med program considering medical school to pre-health hoping for physician assistant school.
“PA school is a two-year education in comparison to four-year medical school,” the student said. “Less years of education means less money and loans to take out.”
Another surveyed student pursuing a doctorate in mathematics said with recent federal funding cuts that endanger their research grants, the student is considering leaving the program and starting to work full time.
Giovanetti said she is not sure if this legislation will impact Trump’s approval rating but said according to the survey, 51% of students do not support any of the measures outlined in the act.
“I can’t imagine that they [students] would be thrilled to advocate for somebody like Trump again,” Giovanetti said. “But I don’t want to speculate too much on that other than the support for this legislation specifically was very low among college students.”
Overall, 61% of students surveyed said they will be personally impacted by the new budget law and 20% say they fully understand the impending changes.
Giovanetti said she recommends students talk to their financial aid office if they need more clarification on this legislation’s outcomes or if they would like to learn about resources to help pay for college.
“It’s a tough time and I know that a lot of students are uncertain about their future,” Giovanetti said. “But also this could all change. I’ve seen the legislation from the first Trump administration get reversed by the Biden administration get reversed by the second Trump administration.”
