Over Fourth of July, President Donald Trump signed into law his “Big Beautiful Bill,” a piece of tax and spending legislation that checks off many second-term agenda items. Despite him deeming the bill “beautiful,” we view the legislation as part of this administration’s skewed agenda, and as students in America, believe it’s contradictory to the needs and aspirations of our peers and educators.
On a broader scale, the bill emphasizes tax cuts and increased spending for border security, at the expense of social services, including Medicare, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and student aid. Rather than supporting social programs, $170.1 billion will instead fund departments and agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Defense. To us, this redirection of funds seems completely reckless, due to the countless number of Americans relying on social programs for safety and security.
Students across the country, and likely many at Grand Valley State University, will be affected by the bill. When it comes to Federal Student Aid, the bill increases the requirement of per-semester enrollment credits from 12 to 15 for maximum Pell Grant recipients. It decreases award amounts by nearly $1,500 for recipients who fail to meet such requirements. The bill completely ends eligibility for Grad PLUS loans starting 2026, and requires acceptance of all federally-offered, unsubsidized loans before Parent PLUS loans are even offered. This makes education even more inaccessible than it already is, and cements education as a privilege rather than a universal right.
These alterations to financial aid largely affect low-income students and their families, who rely on Pell Grants and other forms of federal aid to ease the burden of student debt. Non-citizens will face additional financial barriers to education, as the bill further limits eligibility of non-citizens to receive federal financial aid. In a country where education has been privatized and is reliant on immense amounts of student loan interest, these changes will only make it harder to graduate debt-free– further perpetuating a system that exploits learners.
For many of us who plan to attend graduate school, the bill poses significant barriers to continuing higher education. By eliminating Grad PLUS loans and lowering a student’s yearly borrowing cap to $20,500, students without the means to cover these costs upfront will face significant difficulties obtaining education. Many students will either have to take out private loans with fewer protections and no forgiveness, or consider discontinuing their education.
The lack of federal support being given to higher education can discourage students from pursuing university altogether, resulting in an environment where profit is prioritized over academic success and personal growth. Ongoing issues related to visa revocations, increased surveillance and cuts to financial aid have created notable distress for those in need of certain resources. The priority of profit emphasizes the Trump administration’s values: those in the White House are willing to sacrifice Americans’ academic futures to maintain their power on a global scale.
Meanwhile, ICE has announced the agency’s job offers are complete with a $50,000 sign-on bonus and student loan forgiveness. The juxtaposition of slashing financial aid for low-income students while forgiving the loans of individuals separating families is disturbing and antithetical to how a government is supposed to take care of its citizens.
The decisions made by the Trump administration to cut social programs, including those that serve college students, have put accessible education in America further at risk, especially for low-income individuals and those who have immigrated here. It feels disheartening to see a government supposedly built on “serving the people” completely disregard the wants and needs of its citizens. Accessible education is vital to our country’s growth and well-being, and as students, we’re concerned by this administration’s blatant disregard for the value of learning.
