Why Americans Will Get Less Help Paying for College

About this episode

<p>As the cost of higher education has soared in recent decades, universities have attracted more scrutiny about the value of a four-year degree.</p> <p>Now, the Trump administration is taking those questions to the next level with a set of policies that scales back the federal government’s student loan program.</p> <p>Ron Lieber, who writes about personal finance for The New York Times, explains what the new changes are, and how they might reshape higher education in America.</p> <p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/ron-lieber" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Ron Lieber</strong></a>, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/column/your-money" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Your Money</a> columnist for The New York Times, writes about everything from retirement savings and college tuition to credit reports and taxes.</p> <p>Background reading: </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/your-money/student-loan-limits.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parents and graduate students have new loan limits</a>. Who will fill the gap?</li> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/upshot/student-debt-graduate-school.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">What the new loan caps will mean</a> for grad students this fall.</li> </ul> <p>Photo: Rachel Woolf for The New York Times</p> <p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>