Christian College Leaders Warn New Federal Rule Would Cripple Religious Education

Presidents of Christian colleges warn that new federal regulations will cripple religious higher education and penalize students entering religious vocations.

The Department of Education's proposal, called the Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS), sets an earnings premium test for federal loan eligibility in college programs. This rule implements the One Big Beautiful Bill Act from last year and seeks to shield students from low-earning degrees.

Undergraduate programs fail if graduates do not outearn the median income of high school graduates aged 25 to 34. Graduate programs fail against the median earnings of adults that age with only a bachelor's degree.

The department will draw on IRS and U.S. Census data to measure earnings four years after graduation.

"Programs that routinely fail to provide students with a reliable return on investment would lose access to federal student loans, and in certain cases, Pell Grants," the Education Department said in an April 17 press release. Schools must then label the program as failing and halt new enrollments.

Christian college leaders say the rules will hit religious programs hardest and worsen the clergy shortage, per a Christianity Today report.

"It’s an existential threat to the future of religious higher education in the US—I don’t think that’s an overstatement," Philip Dearborn, head of the Association for Biblical Higher Education, told Christianity Today. "It came out of left field."

Dearborn said 21 Christian college presidents met with lawmakers in Washington last month to oppose the rule.

"Financial outcomes matter, but they don’t totally measure whether an education is worthwhile," David Hoag, president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, told Christianity Today.

Government estimates show 89% of religion master's degrees and 53% of religion bachelor's degrees would fail the test.

Critics call the comparison unfair: it pits recent college graduates against high school graduates up to age 34 with as much as 16 years of work experience.

If more than half of a college's Title IV and HEA federal aid links to failing programs, the whole institution faces provisional status.

Culinary arts and music training programs also risk failure under the rules, Christianity Today noted.

"If folks want to get their degrees in these areas, but they’re not eligible for financial aid, it’s going to significantly impact the religious workforce," Frank Yamada, head of the Association of Theological Schools, said in a statement. "In many Christian traditions now, there are often more job openings or calls available than there are candidates to fill those calls."

A department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that it could not address specific parts of the proposed rule during the public comment period but would review comments for the final version.

"The Trump Administration’s proposed accountability framework is grounded in common sense: if postsecondary education programs do not leave graduates better off, taxpayers should not subsidize them," Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said in a prior press release. "This consensus-backed framework will drive meaningful change in postsecondary education, ending years of regulatory whiplash and addressing student debt that has left too many students worse off."