In a razor-thin vote early Thursday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a sweeping reconciliation bill that is part of President Trump’s broader tax and immigration package. The legislation includes significant provisions with deep, negative, and lasting impacts on students, colleges, and universities nationwide. The bill now heads to the Senate, which is expected to make changes.
Before the House vote, ACE and 17 other associations
sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) voicing strong opposition to the bill. All Democrats and two Republicans voted against the measure, with one other Republican abstaining. While some of the most damaging tax provisions were removed before the House vote, many harmful proposals remain:
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Student Aid at Risk: The legislation proposes to limit eligibility for Pell Grants, eliminate subsidized loans and Grad PLUS loans, and require most colleges and universities to make annual risk-sharing payments to the federal government. These measures would significantly reduce aid for low-income students and increase barriers to enrollment and degree completion.
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Tax Burdens on Institutions: The bill retains several problematic tax provisions, including a major expansion of the endowment tax on private colleges and universities, new taxes on employer-provided transit benefits, and increased taxes on executive compensation. While a temporary deduction to incentivize charitable giving for non-itemizers was added, it falls short of addressing critical issues like the longstanding tax treatment of Pell Grants.
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Medicaid Cuts and Campus Impact: Proposed deep cuts to Medicaid—including fast-tracked work requirements—could result in millions of Americans losing health coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This loss could reduce state funding for public colleges and universities, limit access to care for student populations reliant on Medicaid, and strain campus health centers and affiliated teaching hospitals.
ACE has prepared a
Contact Congress letter that institutions can use to contact their senators and ask them to make substantive changes to the bill, as well as to continue to register objections with House members about the House-approved legislation.