Under a new federal rule, colleges must leave grads better off or lose financial aid [View all]

Source: NPR

Updated July 9, 2026 5:00 AM ET


This month, the U.S. Department of Education began rolling out a new accountability test that most colleges and universities will soon have to pass. The test itself is simple: If an undergraduate program's graduates don't earn more than workers who never went to college, that program could be cut off from federal student loans. The same goes for any graduate program whose graduates earn less than someone with only a bachelor's degree.

"If a program cannot show that it leaves its graduates financially better off than if they had never enrolled, it should not be underwritten by federal taxpayers," said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent in a recent statement.

But this new test, known as "do no harm," raises some thorny questions about the purpose of college. Like: Is it just about making more money? Some advocates for postsecondary arts education think not. "Earnings is only a small piece of that puzzle," said Lee Ann Scotto Adams, executive director of the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), a nonprofit that studies the careers of arts graduates.

She and Doug Dempster, the president of SNAAP, worry the new test might lead colleges and universities to preemptively slash low-earning creative arts programs in music, theater, studio art and design. Dempster says that could lead to a further devaluing of jobs that are critical to a well-functioning society.


Read more: https://www.npr.org/2026/06/30/nx-s1-5835631/turner-camhi-do-no-harm-college-loans