Download this FREE deep dive report to take a closer look at conservative, progressive, and institutional priorities and perspectives on three key areas of The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
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The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is the biggest shake-up to federal higher education policy in more than a decade. And while the bill passed on partisan lines, implementing it to maximize student success and postsecondary value requires real bipartisan cooperation.
With negotiated rule making under way, and 2026 implementation deadlines looming, a recently-published deep dive report from Inside Higher Ed, “After Reconciliation: Higher Ed Reform and Where Left–Right Collaboration Matters Most,” looks at conservative, progressive, and institutional priorities and perspectives on three key areas of the OBBBA: institutional accountability for student outcomes; new loan limits and payment reforms; and changes to the Pell Grant program, including the introduction of Workforce Pell.
Despite clear differences of opinion on various areas of the bill, many experts agree on the need for accountability, limits on excessive graduate debt and support for high-value training programs.
Common concerns also emerge around the tight timeline for adoption, the data infrastructure to support changes, aligning earnings regulations, handling repayment plan transfers with care, protecting the Pell Grant budget and more. Another challenge: execution by an Education Department in transition.
Get a copy of the deep dive report by clicking the Download button above. And don’t forget to register for the live discussion on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 2 p.m. E.T., featuring Inside Higher Ed’s Colleen Flaherty, and the report's author, Ben Upton, along with higher education experts, as they examine the report's findings and the OBBBA’s impact on higher education in greater detail.
Number of Pages: 27 (4.05 MB PDF)
Date Released: Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025
About the Author: Ben Upton is a freelance journalist based in Washington. He served as Times Higher Education’s Europe reporter between November 2021 and October 2023 and previously covered European research policy for Research Professional News. Before graduating from City, University of London’s journalism school in 2017, he worked in academic publishing and taught at a private university in Wuhan, China.
This report was made possible in part by the financial support of Arnold Ventures.
Support: Please email store@insidehighered.com with questions regarding the report or your download.