Concerns Over New Federal Rules Impacting Christian Colleges
Presidents from various Christian colleges and universities are raising alarms over new federal regulations that could greatly affect religious higher education and impose significant penalties on students aiming for religious careers.
The Department of Education’s forthcoming initiative, dubbed the Student Tuition Transparency System (STATS), proposes an income test to gauge eligibility for federal college loans. This plan stems from last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which aimed to safeguard students from degrees that may not provide a satisfactory return on investment.
Under these new guidelines, an undergraduate program may be deemed unsuccessful if its graduates earn less than the median income for high school grads aged 25 to 34. For graduate programs, the benchmark shifts to the income of those in the same age group with only a bachelor’s degree.
To scrutinize these earnings, the Department plans to utilize data from the IRS and the U.S. Census, reviewing four years post-graduation. “Programs that fail to provide students with a reliable return on investment will lose access to federal student loans and, in some cases, Pell Grants,” the Department indicated in an April letter. Schools with failing programs will have to publicly announce their status and halt the enrollment of new students.
Christian college leaders are particularly concerned these regulations will disproportionately impact faith-based programs and worsen the existing clergy shortage. Philip Dearborn, president of the Biblical Higher Education Association, described it as “an existential threat” to religious higher education in America, saying it came as a surprise.
In a bid to voice their concerns, 21 presidents from Christian colleges recently met with lawmakers in Washington. David Hogue, president of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, noted that while economic outcomes matter, they shouldn’t be the only metric for judging the worth of education.
The government’s own estimates suggest religious programs could be among the most adversely affected, predicting that 89% of master’s degrees and 53% of bachelor’s degrees would likely fail under the new measures. Critics argue that these regulations create an “unfair” comparison between recent graduates and those more experienced individuals, like 34-year-olds with high school diplomas.
Should a significant portion of a university’s federal aid correlate with “failed” programs, the entire institution might face interim status. Additional concerns have been raised regarding other fields, like culinary arts and music, facing similar risks under the new rules.
Frank Yamada, president of the Association of Theological Schools, highlighted that if aspiring students can’t access financial aid for degrees in these areas, it would significantly impact religious professionals, especially given the demand for such roles within many Christian communities.
A spokesperson from the Department of Education mentioned that comments from the public will be considered during the rule-making process, but specific details of the proposed accountability rule cannot be discussed yet. Previous statements from Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent emphasized that the aim is to ensure taxpayers aren’t subsidizing programs that fail to benefit students’ futures.
