@bmckib.bsky.social Bryce McKibben and I offer an analysis of the next way in which financial aid is being used as a weapon. The @alliancehighered.bsky.social has many resources and toolkits explaining other ways federal funding is being weaponized and what you can do.

Alliance For Higher Education@alliancehighered.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Fair opportunity for students, and higher ed's role as the fifth pillar of democracy, requires financial aid to remain a tool for support, not a politicized weapon. @michaelhgavin.bsky.social and the Hope Center for Student Basic Needs discuss a new package of federal bills. bit.ly/3QvETZz

We @hope4college.bsky.social are so excited that our own @markhuelsman.bsky.social will be testifying before the Senate HELP Committee tomorrow at 10AM ET on making college costs more transparent. Tune in live! www.help.senate.gov/hearings/ref...

Reforming Financial Transparency in Higher Education | The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions

Full Committee Hearing on November 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM

help.senate.gov

With millions at risk of losing SNAP in the coming days, a reminder: hunger doesn't happen in isolation. When food assistance disappears, families use rent money to eat. Then come evictions and homelessness. Housing, food, healthcare—it's all connected. Cut one thread and the whole thing unravels.

i know everyone wants to talk about health care, but how can you make a govt funding deal when trump is already illegally not following the current deal? he's illegally not doing cancer research, k-12 funding, etc. unless a deal prevents that, what funding have you actually secured in some deal?

NEW: More than 199,000 federal workers have left their jobs or have been forced out by the Trump admin since Jan. 2025, per a new report. That’s nearly 10% of the entire federal civilian workforce. “We’re seeing the arson of our government." www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

We Now Have An Idea Of How Many Federal Workers Trump Has Pushed Out

“We’re seeing the arson of our government,” warned Max Stier of Partnership for Public Service, which has been tracking people's lost jobs since January.

huffpost.com

The US could see a 30-40% decline in new international student enrollment, resulting in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer American jobs. https://www.nafsa.org/fall-2025-international-student-enrollment-outlook-and-economic-impact

Congressional Republicans just passed a massive budget bill that will devastate higher education and eviscerate programs that support students’ and families’ basic needs—including food assistance and medical care—in the largest transfer of wealth to the rich in U.S. history.

House/Senate are set to eliminate Grad PLUS, and put in place loan limits that would dramatically restrict graduate borrowing. Media coverage emphasizes impact this may have on very expensive programs like Medicine and Dentistry, but @peerresearch.bsky.social finds impact will be much(!) broader 1/

Republicans added a special bailout for Alaska on *higher ed,* too. The bill says owners of commercial fishing businesses won't have to report assets on the FAFSA like millions of low-income families. Even if their company earns huge profits, they might qualify for Pell Grants.

The House Reconciliation Bill—the “One Big Beautiful Bill”—would lead to millions of students opting out of higher ed, causing untold damage to the economy and curtailing opportunity for millions of low and middle-income families.

Community colleges estimate that 400,000 of their students would lose a Federal Pell Grant under the House-passed reconciliation bill. www.ccdaily.com/2025/05/wash...

Washington Watch: Preserving Pell, front and center - Community College Daily

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has written to the Senate Labor, Health, Education and Pension (HELP) Committee, outlining its position on the higher education provision in the H...

ccdaily.com

In the budget reconciliation bill, House Republicans are trying to cut SNAP by $295 billion. This would cut it in third in what would be by far the largest SNAP cut in history. This would rip food assistance away from millions of people, including households with children as young as 7 years old.

The House Republican Ag bill would take food assistance from parents with kids over 6 & older adults who can’t meet harsh work requirements. Nearly 11M people live in households at risk of losing #SNAP under this provision. State & congressional-district data: www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

Expanded Work Requirements in House Republican Bill Would Take Away Food Assistance From Millions: State and Congressional District Estimates | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

One of the harshest cuts in the House Agriculture Committee bill would take food assistance away from people — including, for the first time ever, parents with children over the age of 6 and adults ag...

cbpp.org

The Republican tax bill proposes $5 trillion in tax cuts. But one group notably left out in the cold: student loan borrowers (yet again!). The bill sets up a TAX BOMB on income-driven repayment forgiveness and other statutory loan cancellations after this year.

Agriculture text is out. Will go through it in this thread. tl;dr: this'd be the largest SNAP (nutrition assistance, formerly food stamps) cuts in history. It would severely worsen food insecurity in America.

Republicans are advancing a plan to slash $350 billion from federal financial aid, including the Pell Grant. Working students, parenting students, and really anyone juggling school, family, and jobs are at risk of losing aid. All to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. hope.temple.edu/statements-a...

The Hope Center Statement on the House Budget Reconciliation Bill Cutting Student Aid

hope.temple.edu

Cracks are starting to appear in the federal financial aid apparatus after the Trump administration imposed sweeping staff cuts at the Education Department last month.

College financial aid hit with glitches, delays due to federal staffing cuts

Cracks are starting to appear in the federal financial aid apparatus after the Trump administration imposed sweeping staff cuts at the Education Department last month.

washingtonpost.com

On April 14, #SocialSecurity will cut phone service for key tasks, forcing up to 85k more people a week to visit overburdened field offices. Vulnerable groups will face longer waits to get the help they need. www.cbpp.org/research/soc...

Proposed $230B in #SNAP cuts would make it harder for millions to afford food, raising grocery costs & deepening food insecurity. Research shows SNAP improves well-being, boosts long-term outcomes, & strengthens the economy. Here are some key findings: www.cbpp.org/blog/snap-fo...

Trump's tariffs will translate into a 2.3 percentage point increase to overall inflation this year, according to new estimates from the Yale Budget Lab — or about a $3,800 impact for the average household.

This is not an exaggeration: illegally gutting this program will cause Americans to freeze to death in their homes.

Millions of students are forced to confront a complicated financial aid process. But a simple number that didn’t exist before last year could boost financial aid for students who need it most. hope.temple.edu/the-hope-blo...

During Financial Aid Season, Colleges Should Support Students with the Greatest Needs

hope.temple.edu

Millions of #Medicaid enrollees could be harmed by Republicans’ plan to cut Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthy. These cuts could reduce coverage, raise costs, and strain local economies. They are ill-advised and should be rejected. www.cbpp.org/research/hea...

Meanwhile, Schumer has zero words of condemnation for GOP leadership, even as the sitting VP is on national TV talking about "incompatible migrants": bsky.app/profile/wart...

Bill McKay@mckay4senate.bsky.social · 2y ago

Schumer defends Trump’s cancellation of the Columbia grants and hems and haws on the Khalil case. He needs to go.

The House budget resolution calls for committees to enact $2 trillion in deeply harmful cuts through 2034 in programs and services for families and communities, including cuts to #Medicaid, #SNAP, and student loans. www.cbpp.org/blog/house-r...

“The 1890 Scholars Program”—which is aimed at increasing the number of students from rural and underserved communities who study food, agriculture, natural resource and other related sciences—“has been suspended pending further review.” www.usda.gov/about-usda/g...

What these nihilistic vandals are doing to dismantle science & medicine—generations of expertise & public service & life improving benefits—is cultural revolution level national self harm. No foreign foe could inflict such brutal damage & senseless suffering on US so fast & effectively & unresisted.

Dismantling Congressionally-mandated federal research contracts sabotages our ability to understand what students are experiencing and how to help them succeed. These actions reduce transparency, sow confusion, and harm students and families. www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

Trump Admin. Suddenly Cancels Dozens of Education Department Contracts

The Trump administration abruptly terminated dozens of contracts financed by the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education.

edweek.org