PAIGE TAYLOR
Special to The Leader
Graphic by Mars Arensen|Special to The Leader
The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBA) was signed into law on July 4, 2025, it totals 870 pages.
According to Jeramy Corrente, the director of the finical aid office at Fredonia students have misinterpretation of the new changes the law brings
Corrente and assistant director Mark Zaffalon discussed the changes with Leader that this bill makes in an attempt to combat the misinformation and help students find out what the changes truly mean.
One of the changes deals with students looking to further their education and pursue professional degrees, such as graduate school, being concerned about was the changing definition of what is or is not a professional degree program, and how it relates to student federal loans.
The OBBA bill states that some programs that were previously considered professional degrees will no longer be considered as such.
Others that were not previously considered professional degree programs will remain unchanged.
The best course of action for students who may be impacted is to contact the institution they intend to further their study at and find out whether their program is considered a professional degree program there, according to Corrente.
Many students on campus have been worried that some degree or certificate programs would no longer qualify for loans in general.
According to Zaffalon, this concern likely stems from section 85001 of the bill, which prohibits students from using federal funds to enroll in low outcome programs.
Zaffalon mentions in summary, they don’t want students to take out loans for a degree in a profession that may not allow them to make more than a job that requires no degree.
Zaffalon stated, “The government wants to ensure that students are getting or becoming gainfully employed for what they’re paying to come to school for.”
He continued, “They want to make sure that what they’re paying in is worthwhile. These rules are kind of geared towards schools that are having students get into all this debt for not a huge return when they get out of school. If I’m paying $60,000 to go to cosmetology school, I’m getting out and I’m making $15,000 a year, it’s not worth the investment.”
Corrente stated that a policy change that the department is looking to make in the coming years will align the academic and financial aid definitions of a full-time graduate student.
Corrente outlined the difference in graduate student’s full-time statuses; nine credits is considered full-time for academics, but 12 is considered full-time for financial aid: “We’re aligning that. So, any grad[uate] student that’s at nine credits, we won’t have to reduce the loan because then they can [assuming nine credits in both fall and spring] get the $20,500.”
If students have any additional questions about changes under the new bill, or questions on their financial aid in general, Corrente encourages students to come by the financial aid office and speak with someone.
The financial aid office is at 209 Maytum Hall.
“Anytime a student has questions with their financial aid, we have an amazing team. They need to come here and meet with us. Schedule an appointment. You can do it via Starfish. You can email us; you can call us. If there’s funding issues, or if you have questions about your aid, we have walk-ins all day. We want to make sure that we’re answering any questions.”