By Michael Bilfinger, Assistant Director of Public Policy, AACRAO
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed on July 4, 2025, made several changes to higher education that we are now seeing steadily implemented through regulations in a process known as negotiated rulemaking. This is when several negotiators, all representing different constituencies (e.g., veteran students, state authorizing agencies, financial aid administrators) identified as key stakeholders in the potential regulation, get together to discuss ideas and concerns. If all negotiators agree, then consensus is reached, and the federal agency must adopt the agreed-upon language, pending a public comment period. However, if even a single negotiator disagrees, then the federal agency is free to make its own regulations, as was the case for the previous Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment regulations.
Consensus Reached for New Student Loan System Changes and Workforce Pell Program
In October of this year, the Reimagining and Improving Student Education negotiated rulemaking committee reached consensus to finalize regulations addressing changes to the student loan system included in the OBBB. For an overview of the RISE changes, you can reference “A Complete Overhaul to the Federal Financial Aid System.” Below you’ll find a section listing the draft consensus language.
More recently, the Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee concluded its first round of negotiated rulemaking, during which consensus was reached on creating a Workforce Pell program. Under the amended regulatory text that was agreed to, specific programs as short as eight weeks and up to a maximum of 15 weeks will be eligible for Pell grants, as long as their tuition and fees don’t exceed the value-adding-earnings metric meant to ensure a financial return for students participating in these short-term training programs.
More to Come in 2026
At this stage, it’s unclear exactly how many programs might be eligible for the new Workforce Pell program. But according to state and federal data that was presented at the beginning of the first week of negotiated rulemaking, the number is at least several hundred, if not in the low thousands. That being said, it’s also unclear how the market will react, particularly community colleges and for-profit schools, as well as how states define high-demand industries, as this will impact program eligibility. As directed in the OBBB, the Workforce Pell grants will become available on July 1, 2026. However, the first disbursement date is still uncertain.
The Education Department will next post the draft regulations on the Federal Register and take public comment. After that, officials will have to review and respond to the public comments before finalizing the rule. Once that happens, governors can start the process to approve specific in-demand certification programs for Workforce Pell. The AHEAD committee will reconvene again January 5 - 9, 2026, to address new accountability measures included in the OBBB.
Draft Consensus Language from the RISE Committee: