Postsecondary Education & Economics Research Center

How Do College Programs Measure Up Against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s New Accountability Standard? — PEER Center In July, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) that included significant changes to the federal government’s role in funding higher education. Among them is a new accountability…

From @PEERresearch.bsky.social: We estimated how #highered programs measure up against the accountability standard in the reconciliation law. Overall, few programs fall short, but low-earning programs are concentrated in some schools, fields. www.peer-center.org/research/how...

@peerresearch.bsky.social's @jdmatsudaira.bsky.social has looked at the current borrowing levels across fields of study. Check out the attached (green dots for fields that fall in the new definition) for more on the average annual borrowing of the largest professional fields today. 2/

Many graduate borrowers will be affected not just by new annual and aggregate loan limits, but also by a new provision that prorates loan eligibility for part-time students. More in a recent PEER Center brief: www.american.edu/spa/peer/imp...

Impact of New Graduate and Parent Loan Limits Based on our analysis of recent borrowing levels, OBBBA’s new loan limits will curtail borrowing for about one-third of both all parent and all graduate student borrowers. Read more.

🚨 NEW from @PEERResearch.bsky.social: New graduate, parent loan limits will curtail borrowing for about one-third of borrowers. About $10 billion/yr will no longer be available to grad students (more when including new limits for part-time students), parents. www.american.edu/spa/peer/imp...

These 20 fields enroll 92 percent of federally aided students -- and with a few notable exceptions, most have <2% of their enrollment in programs that would lose loan eligibility under the new #highered law. Check it out: www.american.edu/spa/peer/one...

NEW from @PEERResearch.bsky.social: We estimated how #highered programs measure up against the accountability standard in the reconciliation law. Overall, few programs fall short, but low-earning programs are concentrated in some schools, fields. www.american.edu/spa/peer/one...

AND we're looking for a Research Associate to engage in rapid-response analysis for state and federal policy development. american.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/AU/job/Main-...

We're looking for a Senior Research Associate to conduct and manage long-term research projects for PEER, working with state and federal administrative data. american.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/AU/job/Main-...

🚨The PEER Center is hiring! We currently have two positions posted (details below). We're a #highered research center (led by @srcellini.bsky.social @jdmatsudaira.bsky.social) focused on generating actionable research for state, federal policy. Put your data skills to work for an important purpose!

NEW: Most college graduates remain in-state after they complete -- even more among community college graduates -- and tend to move to higher-cost (and typically higher-wage) areas, particularly for grads of highly selective schools. www.american.edu/spa/peer/ear...

REGISTRATION: PEER Center Virtual Event on Reconciliation Earlier this year, Congress passed a reconciliation law (a.k.a. the One Big Beautiful Bill) that will substantially reshape the higher education sector. The U.S. Department of Education is now moving…

📣 @PEERresearch.bsky.social is hosting a virtual event TOMORROW, Sept. 18, 1-2 PM ET. We'll talk everything #highered in reconciliation, what happens next, and how researchers and scholars can engage in the Education Department's rulemaking process! REGISTER: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Loan Caps Could Force Students Into Private Market Multiple analyses show that in certain programs, like dentistry, as many as half of students may need to take out more debt than a new federal limit allows.

The typical borrower in four of the largest professional, half of the 30 largest master's programs will hit new graduate loan limits. @jdmatsudaira.bsky.social of @PEERresearch.bsky.social explained how an ROI-based approach to limits could have worked better. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

ICYMI: @PEERresearch.bsky.social is hosting a virtual event on 9/18, 1-2 PM ET. We'll talk everything #highered in reconciliation, what happens next, and how researchers and scholars can engage in the Education Department's rulemaking process! REGISTER: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

NEW from @PEERresearch.bsky.social: A Public Service Loan Forgiveness "study guide" to help you understand who qualifies for PSLF, who's applying, and what it means for policymakers. Check it out here! www.american.edu/spa/peer/pub...

As @usedgov.bsky.social implements a new #highered accountability law, @PEERResearch.bsky.social urged officials to:

➡️ Provide radically improved transparency
➡️ Maintain an earnings test for certificates, a debt-based test
➡️ Release already-collected data

More: www.american.edu/spa/peer/rec...

This week, @PEERResearch.bsky.social submitted comments to @usedgov.bsky.social on its upcoming regulatory process to implement the #highered reconciliation law -- including urging the Department to maintain strong accountability and transparency rules. www.american.edu/spa/peer/rec...

The reconciliation law will fundamentally change the student loan landscape. As Congress considered it, @PEERResearch.bsky.social looked at what borrowers would owe on the new modified standard plan and the new (income-driven) Repayment Assistance Plan. Check it out: www.american.edu/spa/peer/hou...

The Postsecondary Education & Economics Research (PEER) Center generates actionable research to drive policy improvements in #highered. Check out peer-center.org and give us a follow on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/post... to learn more about our work!

Tuition caps or freezes in #highered are supposed to lower costs for students -- but a @PEERResearch.bsky.social brief by scholars Lois Miller and Minseon Park explains why that's not always the case. www.american.edu/spa/peer/upl...

As new grad. loan limits take effect, @PEERResearch.bsky.social dug into the data:

➡️ Health degrees account for nearly half of grad borrowing

➡️ High-debt fields typically have high median earnings

➡️ Typical borrowing varies, across schools and within programs

www.american.edu/spa/peer/upl...

Colleges and universities in Mass. embraced graduate education. That may be a problem now. - The Boston Globe Universities that rely on advanced degrees as a lucrative — and in some cases, essential — source of revenue are preparing to bear the consequences.

Federal loans for graduate school are being capped by the "Big Beautiful Bill". SPA Prof. and @peerresearch.bsky.social co-director @jdmatsudaira.bsky.social fears many won't be able to pursue graduate education as a result. Read: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/12/b... #SPAintheMedia

Excited to be at the @sheeoed.bsky.social conference on behalf of @peerresearch.bsky.social, catching up with old friends and learning more about all the #highered work happening in states across the country! Find me around the conference if you want to chat about PEER and our work!

This morning, PEER's @claremccann.bsky.social provided comments to @usedgov.bsky.social on its upcoming rulemaking to implement reconciliation, pointing to this PEER Center report in arguing for strong gainful employment and transparency rules to complement the law: www.american.edu/spa/peer/acc...

The recent reconciliation law requires short-term programs to pass a tuition-to-earnings test -- tuition charged must not exceed graduates' typical earnings, less 150 percent of the poverty level. @PEERResearch.bsky.social wrote about how that metric might work. www.american.edu/spa/peer/wor...

@PEERResearch.bsky.social looked at the new income-driven repayment plan (RAP) in the reconciliation law, set to come online soon. Higher payments on the plan for the lowest-income borrowers will increase hardship among those living in poverty and increase defaults. www.american.edu/spa/peer/rev...

@usedgov.bsky.social is planning a rulemaking on #highered accountability. Check out @peerresearch.bsky.social analysis of which programs fall short of the new reconciliation law's standards: www.american.edu/spa/peer/upl.... For researchers looking to get involved in the process, reach out to PEER!

PEER's @jdmatsudaira.bsky.social spoke with @CalMatters.org about how recent changes to graduate #highered loan limits could affect California medical school students, who often borrow more (across medical school and annually) than the new limits will allow. calmatters.org/health/2025/...

Trump’s budget caps student loan debt. Why that’s bad news for California med students Doctors regularly need to pay more than $300,000 for medical school, including tuition and housing. New regulations signed by President Donald Trump cap their federal borrowing at $200,000.

@jdmatsudaira.bsky.social spoke with @mzinshteyn.bsky.social @CalMatters.org re lawmakers' recent changes to med-school loan limits, noting the shift will likely "make it less likely for some of those students to be able to pursue graduate degrees than they are now." calmatters.org/health/2025/...

The new #highered reconciliation law will extend Pell Grants to short-term programs -- just 8-15 weeks. The guardrails (minimum standards for job placement, completion rates, earnings) won't do enough to protect against low-quality programs. @srcellini.bsky.social www.american.edu/spa/peer/wor...

Every Tuesday AM, @claremccann.bsky.social @peerresearch.bsky.social shares our weekly "What We're Tracking" newsletter -- chock-full of state and federal #highered news, policy, and analysis. Sign up today and you'll be in the know tomorrow! peer-center.us12.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...