Since President Donald Trump took office in January, he has sought to destroy higher education as we know it.
He’s undermined colleges’ funding by trying to cancel billions of dollars of federal grants and block international students. He’s eroded their independence by attempting to force them to rewrite their curricula and threatening their accreditations and tax-exempt status. He’s chipped away at their authority by casting them as cesspools of “anti-American insanity.” And he’s punished grads by limiting eligibility for student loan forgiveness and going after borrowers who have defaulted.
But the Republican megabill working its way through the Senate would take the war against college to the next level by targeting the students of tomorrow.
Trump’s executive actions were bad enough, but some of America’s colleges and universities pushed back with lawsuits that have already blocked some measures, at least temporarily. If Democrats retake the White House, the next president could also sign a new executive action undoing them, which would mitigate the damage somewhat.
But if the megabill passes in its current form, it will write the attack on higher education into law by targeting its weakest point: student loans.
To dive deeper, you can read the rest of my column here. And check out more of MSNBC’s coverage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act below.
