The Republican “One, Big Beautiful Bill” that has stormed through Congress is an omnibus bill that would adversely impact the lives of working-class Americans. Among the ways this legislation will impact Americans is in higher education access. In a misguided effort to slash government spending to address some very real issues of fiscal responsibility, Republicans have proposed changes to financial aid eligibility and Pell Grant allocations that would make it even harder for working students to pursue a bachelor’s degree. The bill proposes increasing the threshold for students to be recognized as full-time and thus receive adequate aid, this would be disastrous for working students who need to constantly scramble with limited time to meet credit requirements.

The reality is, our higher education system is unfairly prejudiced against working-class students and this legislation would only unmanageably exacerbate that opportunity gap. If this bill passes, thousands of Massachusetts’ students would face financial precarity. If Beacon Hill doesn’t pass adequate increases to financial aid allocation to remediate this, either through supplemental or general appropriations, many students would be forced to drop out, unnecessarily harming the effort to educate the American population to participate in a healthy, long-lasting economy and democracy. Regardless of what happens on Beacon Hill, if Trump’s “One, Big Beautiful Bill” passes there will be big gaps to fill in financial aid. We need to advocate to bridge the educational opportunity gap on both state and federal levels.

Henry Morgan

Florence