“The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is cutting access to student loans for degrees that have low earning potential, including social work.”

The Trump administration has introduced a policy framework often referred to as an 'accountability standard' or 'do no harm' rule for higher education. According to reports from multiple outlets, the Department of Education finalized rules that utilize IRS data to compare the earnings of graduates from specific programs against the earnings of individuals with only a high school diploma. If a program's graduates consistently earn less than this baseline, the program may lose eligibility for federal student loan funding. While the administration frames this as a measure to ensure institutional accountability and protect taxpayers from subsidizing programs with poor financial outcomes, critics and academic organizations have noted that this disproportionately impacts fields with historically lower salary structures, such as social work, early childhood education, and the arts. Additionally, reports indicate that separate changes have placed caps on annual and lifetime borrowing for certain graduate programs, further restricting access to federal financing for students in these fields.