The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has created significant changes to financial aid policy — such as loan eligibility adjustments and limits — that have gone into effect for Butler’s current academic year. One of the most prominent changes is that students enrolled in fewer than full-time credit hours may be eligible for fewer student loans than full-time students.
OBBBA, under Public Law No. 119-21, was signed into law July 4, 2025, by President Donald Trump, but many changes did not go into effect until July 1 of this year. The act is primarily a tax reform and spending reconciliation bill — an attempt to grow the United States economy through tax reductions — resulting in major cuts to public benefit programs.
Mariah Rivera, a sophomore sociology and criminology combined major, believes the act to be an unfair limit on access to education.
“This is an act which is so blatantly helping more elites than [regular] people who should be being helped [instead],” Rivera said. “A lot of people [have had] FAFSA and their financial aid cut significantly. Already college is insanely expensive, and [this bill] is giving people less opportunity to [become] educated, which I feel like is also the intention.”
Butler’s Office of Financial Aid provided a statement to The Butler Collegian over email. Amanda Fishman, the associate director of student services and programs, wrote that the changes to policy will not have the same effects on all students, and there are many factors to consider for each unique situation.
“These changes do not mean every Butler student will see a reduction in financial aid,” Fishman stated. “Many undergraduate students who remain within the federal loan limits and [are] enrolled full time may see little or no immediate change.”
Fishman’s statement mentioned that graduate and professional students are among those most likely to be directly impacted by the changes. This is a major point of concern for senior biochemistry major Lenoire Prieshoff, who is planning on attending graduate school after this year.
Prieshoff outlined the reasons she believes OBBBA to place unreasonable restrictions on higher education.
“Not only does it limit funding for undergraduates, but also Parent PLUS loans, and obviously privatized loans, [capping] the amount that you can take out in loans as a graduate student,” Prieshoff said. “That is scary for me, [and] I know it is scary for a lot of the other [people] that I go through Butler with.”
Prieshoff shared how she sees the changes impacting Butler long-term, as potential incoming students consider OBBBA’s impact in the college search process — citing groups without as many resources or networking opportunities, such as first-generation college students.
“[In these situations] you might be more likely to bank on federal funding or privatized loans, which now are harder to achieve, making it harder to access and harder to come to Butler,” Prieshoff said. “[These impacts] make it so that you can’t engage with Butler and what it has to offer.”
Butler’s Office of Financial Aid encourages students with questions about the effects the OBBBA may have on their financial aid to contact the office so their situation can be reviewed and options can be explored.