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...
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-...
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. www.nafsa.org/fall-2025-international-...
Sounds and awful lot like this: bsky.app/profile/bmck...
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/
This also hurts everyone by making the FAFSA needlessly more complex. Plenty of private-sector businesses help society (e.g. affordable housing, health care providers, waste management). Doesn't mean we should create a laundry list of sectors that exempt you from normal people's rules.
Execs frequently take low "wage" income in exchange for stock options & benefits. So it would be quite easy for a wealthy fisheries family to get student financial aid while owning a company worth millions (or more!). All while we put most students through the FAFSA ringer.
The largest fisheries employ thousands of people. Trident Seafoods has 3,600 employees in Alaska alone. And unlike "small" businesses here, there is no FTE threshold for the fisheries at all.
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...
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...
There are currently 13 million borrowers in IDR plans. For many, the forgiveness owed to them under *current law* has been on hold due to court orders and slow-walking from the Trump Administration. They may be walked right into a catastrophic tax bill next year and beyond.
These are borrowers who've paid 20-25+ years, had their schools collapse, or been defrauded, and now they'll face thousands of dollars in new taxes. While the Republican bill narrowly addresses death & disability, it shamefully leaves the vast majority of borrowers worse off.
The American Rescue Plan Act removed surprise tax bombs on IDR, closed school discharges, and borrower defense discharges through December 2025. The new Republican tax bill lets that relief expire while pushing trillions for the wealthy. thecollegeinvestor.com/57708/tax-pl...
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.
It appears they just did the same thing for the American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit:
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...
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.
Chart: "A Maze of Red Tape to Access Social Security, With Trump Administration Restricting Phone Services"
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...
Chart: "SNAP Delivers Immediate and Long-Term Benefits for Individuals and the Nation"
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...
Medicaid cuts can take many forms but with the same result: shifting costs to states and taking coverage away from people with low incomes
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...