Washington Insights & Highlights Special Edition July 1st

Breaking News: Senate Passes “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act”

Earlier today, the U.S. Senate passed its version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R.1) by a vote of 51-50. The bill makes the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent, overhauls social safety-net programs, such as Medicaid, and raises the federal debt ceiling by five trillion dollars. Republican senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) joined the Democrats in opposing the bill, thus requiring Vice President JD Vance to cast the tie-breaking vote. The Senate-passed bill must now go to the House of Representatives for consideration and reconciliation with the House-passed bill. As mentioned in previous CGS publications, the House passed its version of the bill on May 22, 2025.

Both the House and Senate bills include harmful provisions for the higher education community, including:

• Grad PLUS: Both the House and Senate bills terminate the authority to issue Graduate PLUS Loans on or after July 1, 2026.
• Unsubsidized Loans: The Senate bill caps unsubsidized student loans for graduate students at $20,500 annually. The House bill amends the maximum annual loan limit for unsubsidized loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 to the median cost of student’s programs of study. It also amends the aggregate loan limits for graduate programs to $100,000 and establishes a lifetime limit of $200,000.
• Loan Repayment Options: The Senate bill provides only two repayment options: a new standard plan and a new income-driven repayment plan for federal borrowers beginning on July 1, 2026. It should be noted that this provision will not be applied to current borrowers under the Byrd Rule. The House bill terminates all repayment plans authorized under the income-contingent repayment plan and establishes a new income-based repayment plan. The House bill also establishes a Repayment Assistance Plan.

For more details on both bills, please refer to the CGS Comparison Table, the House Bill Summary and the Senate Bill Summary.

In addition to the abovementioned provisions, the House bill includes other provisions of concern, such as the institutional risk-sharing provision and the cap on the median cost of college. On June 6, 2025, CGS sent a letter to Senate leadership that highlights our concerns about these provisions. More recently, CGS joined 50 other associations in another letter to Senate leadership.

Please contact your Members of Congress Today: It is not too late to sound the alarm with your institution’s leadership, academic deans, government relations officers, and graduate student associations about the harmful provisions in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

Head to the CGS Budget Reconciliation webpage for resources, sample letters and talking points.