What the Republicans' New Policy Bill Means for Higher Education
The bill would expand the tax on endowments that universities use for financial aid, roll back student loan protections and cap the amount students can borrow for graduate programs.
The bill would 'make college less affordable,' said Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, adding that schools could become less economically and racially diverse.
Republicans have said that the measures impose accountability on a sector that has failed to police itself. The caps on student borrowing are intended to reign in ballooning graduate student debt, they say, and the tax on university endowments, which schools often use to provide financial aid, fulfills a Trump campaign promise to target the nation's wealthiest schools.
The student loan changes are expected to save the government more than $300 billion over a decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate.
It comes as the Trump administration has unleashed an attack on colleges and universities, cutting research grants and making it harder for international students to enroll. The administration has singled out top schools like Harvard, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania. But the bill shows that the Republican agenda for higher education extends far beyond the Ivy League.
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4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's Vietnam Deal Shows China Tariffs Won't Fall Much Further
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By closing the loopholes, the Trump administration is signaling what any future deal with China might look like. The 40% tariff on transshipped goods suggests that even if tariffs on China are eventually reduced, they're unlikely to fall significantly below that threshold. 'The 40% figure in the Vietnam deal might reflect a broader conviction in the Trump administration about the appropriate tariff level on China, which would be similarly reflected in other bilateral deals,' said Gabriel Wildau, a managing director at Teneo focused on political risk analysis in China. 'However, I am skeptical that Trump has a specific red line for minimum tariffs on China.' Beijing and Washington reached a trade framework last month following talks in London, which remains in effect through mid-August. As part of the deal, China agreed to resume shipments of rare earths — key inputs for wind turbines, electric vehicles and military hardware. 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If China's duties were to fall to 35%, for instance, it would restore a competitive edge to China and encourage firms to shift operations back, running counter to the Trump administration's broader objectives. 'If China ends up with a lower tariff level than Vietnam that would certainly shift the competitiveness calculations somewhat, but keep in mind that moving production facilities is not as easy as flipping a light switch on and off,' said Stephen Olson, a former US trade negotiator now with the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. 'From the perspective of Chinese companies, there is zero confidence that once Trump sets a tariff level that it will remain at that level.' For now, here are signs both sides are following through on the terms of the London agreement and displaying signs of goodwill. The Trump administration has lifted recent export license requirements for chip design software sales in China, and approved US ethane exports to China without additional approvals. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Chinese rare earth magnets are flowing, although they haven't yet bounced back to the levels seen before Chinese imposed export curbs in early April. The US remains hopeful that China will further ease restrictions on those exports after their London deal, he said in an interview Tuesday on Fox News. Meanwhile, a senior Chinese official on Thursday delivered one of Beijing's most positive messages about his nation's ties with the US in weeks. Liu Jianchao, head of the Communist Party's International Department, said at the World Peace Forum that he was 'optimistic' about future relations. 'China is keenly aware of what it's gained from China-US cooperation,' Liu said 'Our cooperation is mutually beneficial. The act of putting up barriers will hurt the other and ourselves as well.' Other Negotiations Apart from Vietnam, Beijing is growing increasingly cautious about US efforts to strike trade deals that could isolate China. 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Forbes
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AI Skill Stacks: How Teens Can Future-Proof Their Careers Today
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Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' Heads To His Desk - The Arena with Kasie Hunt - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
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