Podbit · Planet Money
Beyond loan caps, the Republican 'One Big Beautiful Bill' includes a 'do no harm' provision: any college program whose graduates don't out-earn a typical high school graduate loses federal loan access entirely. Cory Turner calls it a death sentence for low-return programs.
Where this was said
At 28:37 · chapter starts 27:30
The episode's most candid exchange comes when Cory Turner reaches for an analogy: the whole policy feels like a game of chicken [1] — Cory Turner "The Trump administration's loan cap strategy is a game of chicken with colleges: lower your prices or watch your enrollment shrink. The pro…" 27:28 . The Trump administration is telling universities, get your prices down or watch your enrollment crumble — and counting on institutions to blink first. But Kenny Malone identifies the uncomfortable moral reality: the people sent to deliver that message are the students themselves, caught in the middle of a standoff between government and university administrators [2] — Kenny Malone "The cruel thing about this particular message to send is that you must use people who want a degree as the messenger." 27:35 . Turner acknowledges it's not a perfect metaphor, but it captures the asymmetry well. He then adds one more policy layer from the Republican 'One Big Beautiful Bill': the 'do no harm' provision, which would strip federal loan access entirely from any program whose graduates don't out-earn a typical high school diploma holder. Turner calls it bluntly — 'a death sentence' — for low-return programs.
The Republican 'One Big Beautiful Bill' includes a provision that strips federal loan access entirely from college programs whose graduates don't out-earn a typical high school graduate.
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