Restoring College Access and Affordability Act
Introduced March 26, 2026 · Last action March 26, 2026
Plain English Summary
This bill repeals several recent student loan and higher education provisions from a 2025 federal reconciliation law, reversing changes to loan limits, repayment terms, loan forgiveness programs, and Pell Grant eligibility rules. It also reduces the federal excise tax on private college and university endowment income from a higher rate to a flat 1.4 percent.
Who benefits
Private colleges and universities with substantial endowments (who save on the reduced excise tax); students and families who were previously restricted by tighter loan limits or narrower Pell Grant eligibility rules under the 2025 law; for-profit and certificate-granting educational institutions seeking federal student aid eligibility under modified gainful employment standards; borrowers who would have qualified for loan forgiveness or discharge protections under the repealed regulatory provisions.
Who pays / loses
Federal government loses revenue from the reduced endowment excise tax; students and borrowers who benefited from the expanded loan limits, repayment flexibility, and Pell Grant eligibility changes in the 2025 law now lose those benefits; borrowers with claims for borrower defense and closed school discharge lose the strengthened protections that had been delayed; taxpayers bear the cost of restored federal student aid spending without the 2025 law's fiscal offsets.
Funding & Lobbying Interests
Private colleges and universities with endowments over $500 million have a direct financial stake in the endowment excise tax reduction. For-profit education companies and certificate-granting institutions lobby for broad access to federal student aid under lenient gainful employment standards. Student loan servicers and federal loan program administrators benefit from looser repayment and forgiveness rules. The bill's sponsors—all Democratic senators (Blumenthal, Lujan, Booker, Merkley, Alsobrooks, Kaine)—typically receive campaign support from education advocacy groups, labor unions, and consumer protection organizations that oppose restrictions on student aid.
Political Impact
Affected Groups
Undergraduate and graduate students seeking federal loans—particularly those attending institutions that faced new borrowing caps under the 2025 law; borrowers enrolled in Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs; low-income students relying on Pell Grants; borrowers with claims of fraud or school closure seeking loan discharge; students attending for-profit colleges and certificate programs; endowment-holding universities (primarily elite private institutions with assets typically concentrated among families in top income quartiles).
Political Subtext
Proponents argue this bill restores critical student aid access that was restricted by the 2025 reconciliation law, protecting borrowers from tighter loan limits and narrower eligibility rules while strengthening enforcement of fraud and closure protections. They characterize the endowment tax reduction as corporate welfare for wealthy universities. Critics argue the bill reverses fiscal discipline embedded in the 2025 law, increases federal student aid spending without offsetting cuts, expands loan access to borrowers with poor employment prospects (particularly at for-profit schools), and hands a tax cut to endowed universities. Non-partisan evidence on the 2025 law's original provisions is limited, but CBO and think tank research on gainful employment rules shows mixed results: stricter standards reduce enrollment at low-wage programs but also restrict access for disadvantaged students; weaker standards increase federal defaults and reduce earnings outcomes for borrowers.
Real-World Stakes
If this passes, federal student loan limits return to pre-2025 levels, allowing deeper borrowing; Pell Grant eligibility expands; Public Service Loan Forgiveness becomes easier to access; for-profit and certificate programs regain access to federal aid under broader criteria. Historical precedent: the Obama administration's 2014 strengthening of gainful employment rules shut down or restructured hundreds of for-profit programs but reduced federal default rates; the Trump administration's 2019 rollback of those rules expanded for-profit enrollment but led to higher default rates and worse earnings outcomes, documented in Government Accountability Office reports. The endowment tax reduction saves universities with large endowments (typically Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and similar institutions) millions annually—in 2024, the endowment tax raised approximately $500 million federally. Repealing regulatory delays on borrower defense and closed school discharge protections accelerates eligibility determinations, increasing forgiveness claims but also federal costs. The net fiscal effect is likely a multi-year increase in federal student aid expenditures without identified revenue offsets.
Sponsor
Sponsor information not available.
Vote Record
No recorded votes.
Campaign Finance — Primary Sponsor
No campaign finance data available yet.
501(c)(4) disclosure: Contributions from 501(c)(4) "dark money" organizations are not required to be publicly disclosed and are not reflected in the figures above. Data sourced from FEC public disclosure filings.
Community Discussion
Share this bill
Sign in to join the discussion.
No comments yet. Be the first.