Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 9 - Issue 22

This Week In Washington

On Wednesday, the Senate Parliamentarian advised that several provisions within the Senate’s budget reconciliation bill violated the Byrd Rule. For context, the Byrd Rule is a Senate rule that prevents policy changes from being included in a budget reconciliation package which is only meant for budgetary matters. The provisions impacting higher education include:

• A Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) provision that excludes payments from counting towards PSLF while a student is in a medical or dental internship or residency; and
• A provision establishing that beginning July 1, 2026, federal student loan borrowers will have only two repayment options: a standard plan with fixed payments over 10-25 years or a new income-based repayment (IBR) plan, Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). 

These provisions cannot be applied to current borrowers under the Byrd Rule. If these provisions remain in the bill, they will be subject to a 60-vote threshold.

News You Can Use

A TransUnion analysis shows that 31% of federal student loan borrowers are delinquent on their loans.

An Urban Institute report discusses how the budget reconciliation accountability proposal would affect institutions and students.

Recent Legislation

There were no relevant student-aid related bills recently introduced for consideration by the 119th Congress (2025-26).