Federal student loans may soon be off the table for degrees with low wage-earning potential, the anchor said during a live broadcast on LiveNOW from FOX.
The anchor relayed that the Department of Education says the move is "not necessarily a ban." The stated target is low return-on-investment programs that saddle students with debt that never translates into real-world jobs. The anchor also relayed the department's line that "American students deserve education and training pathways that prepare them for the workforce."
Developing: the broadcast gave no formal rule text, no list of affected programs, and no earnings threshold. Those details are all unestablished.
Here is what the anchor did say. Federal loans would potentially not be available for certain degrees, "at least initially out of the gate." The policy would potentially take effect next year, 2027.
2027 is really the first year in earnest where they'll look at this.
After that, the anchor said, colleges and universities will have to determine the plan moving forward. Note the word "potentially." It shows up more than once, so this is not final.
Earlier in the broadcast, a guest identified only as Laura said families who lose federal access may turn to private loans. She said that market "could really boom" if the change comes in a big wave. She also said some schools, cosmetology among them, have criticized how the government would calculate graduates' earnings, especially in tip-reliant fields. Those were the guest's remarks, not the department's.
The guest also said federal student loans have long been a pillar of higher education, dating to the 1950s or 1960s. That is why you are hearing about this. A rule that pulls federal money from whole degrees is a big deal for anyone planning to borrow.
The segment did not say which programs would count as failing. Colleges would be left to answer that after 2027.