On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed his widely-publicized policy act dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law, ushering in an era of unprecedented change in higher education. The new legislation introduces numerous changes that will impact colleges and universities. Most notably, the bill marks a substantial shift in federal student aid programs, one that many experts fear will limit access to higher education for many Americans. From the elimination of the Grad PLUS program and caps on Parent PLUS loans to restructured repayment plans and changes that tie student earnings to an institution’s access to student loans, the bill fundamentally transforms many well-established student aid programs that students, families, and institutions rely on.
With numerous policy changes slated to go into effect in July 2026, the proposed timeline for implementation is aggressive at best. However, at Regent Education, we are already reviewing the policy changes introduced by the bill, assessing the impacts on our financial aid automation solutions , and developing a product roadmap that will ensure our solutions remain compliant as the changes roll out. Here’s what you can expect from us in the coming months.
How Regent Education is Addressing the One Big Beautiful Bill
Regent Education is aware of multiple changes to multiple Title IV programs required by the One Big Beautiful Bill. Inherently, our product roadmap principles anticipate these types of recurring regulatory changes to Title IV processing. While we await full guidance and technical specifications to emerge from the Department of Education (ED), we are already formulating our roadmap, requirements governance, and resource estimates to support these changes in a timely and effective manner. Most of these changes are effective July 2026, with small exceptions to FAFSA-related items in the near-term. To-date, based on tracking of the legislation, monitoring emerging NASFAA guidance, and participating in ED outreach with the software community, we are tracking the following workstreams:
The bill introduces changes to what counts as assets and how foreign income is counted toward Pell eligibility, making students who may meet the Min or Max Pell requirements ineligible if they have high SAIs. Our clients were alerted to a subset of these changes last year as they served as expected future modification proposals aimed at addressing gaps in the FAFSA simplification process—proposals that received support from Capitol Hill in 2024.
ED is aiming to support these changes no later than October 2025. There are no changes expected to the ISIR format at this time.
A range of changes affect various loan programs differently. Regent Education is tracking the loan limit changes (both aggregate and annual), loan limits instituted for Parent PLUS, and configurability for borrowing caps which can be set lower than federal caps. Further, proration rules will apply to students with less than full-time enrollment.
In addition, the bill discontinues Grad PLUS loans. For software automation, current students are grandfathered in for their current program or three years (whichever is less).
Standard Pell eligibility will be limited if students receive non-federal sources that meet or exceed COA.
Workforce Pell will support programs at accredited institutions that are between 150 and 600 clock hours and between eight and 15 weeks in length. Programs must meet significant approval requirements before they become eligible. Workforce Pell usage will also accrue to overall Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU).
Because of the program approval timelines, Regent Education is surveying clients and other institutions to gain some perspective to inform practical effective date targets for our software solutions.
The new requirements introduced by the One Big Beautiful Bill are already forming a foundation for our compliance requirements process as we plan product releases beginning in Q4 2025 through 2026.
Regent Education has deep experience and expertise in higher education financial aid, that means we know what it takes to help you succeed. We’re preparing for the upcoming changes introduced by the One Big Beautiful Bill, and we’re here to provide guidance, peace of mind, and support throughout the process. But our dedication doesn’t end here. Because we’re focused on financial aid, we’re always thinking about what’s next. And we’re ready to support you, whatever changes may happen in the future. To learn more, please visit regenteducation.com.