“You can receive financial aid as a double major. However, as soon as you have met the requirements for one program or degree, at that point, you’re no longer eligible,” said Troy Martin, EMU’s Director of Financial Aid. The financial aid Martin refers to officially falls under the category of Title IV federal funding, established in 1965 to help meet financial needs in higher education. Both the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) in early July 2025 and the finalization of Title IV funding specific regulation updates as a result of OBBBA in January of 2026 have set to crack down on institutions that do not abide by their limitations starting July 1, 2026.
“This has always been a regulation, and basically what it says is that a student cannot receive federal financial aid for courses that do not apply towards their degree or program,” said Martin. As of early February, EMU has approximately 70 undergraduate students across different disciplines working towards completing multiple majors, about 10% of the total undergraduate population. For these students, this means that balancing the workloads of their majors is essential to ensure continued eligibility for any federal financial aid through the semester they aim to graduate. All federal financial aid students receive falls under Title IV funding, including Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans, Pell Grants, Federal Work-Study, and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants.
Junior Meredith Atkinson, double-majoring in Political Science and Psychology, had never previously heard mention of the Title IV funding regulations. Neither of her faculty advisors, none of her professors, and not even her basketball coach had given her a heads up that how she structured her academic schedule during her time at EMU could affect any potential financial aid farther down the road.
“I think that [the policies] can be really impactful on students, especially since smaller colleges, like EMU, tend to only offer some classes in either the fall or spring, so that could make it difficult to finish different majors at the same time,” said Atkinson. She is currently on track to complete the academic requirements for both her majors a semester early, though she is still deciding whether or not to extend her time at EMU to the full four years.
“Historically, this has not been a big issue for four-year private liberal arts colleges like EMU,” said Martin. “Typically, it doesn’t really impact students until their senior year, and then it impacts only very few that [have] completed all of their requirements and… want to hang around for a semester.” This crackdown on Title IV funding eligibility will also affect students who only have one major, which Martin says is more common. That said, students will receive in full whatever aid has been awarded as long as they are in compliance for the duration of their studies.
Beyond the stricter course load requirements for undergraduate students, another major avenue for federal borrowing is being reduced under the OBBBA. Conversely to traditional federal student loans that fall on the student to pay back, Parent Plus Loans (PPL) allow that burden to be placed on guardians instead. Currently, parents borrowing through a PPL are able to borrow up to the total cost of attendance without any aggregate caps on that borrowing. Under the new guidelines coming into effect in July, there will be a new annual cap of $20,000 with a total cap set at $65,000. For many universities, this is not anywhere near enough money to cover the ticket price of tuition.
In addition to the undergraduate guidelines, the OBBBA also altered federal financial aid for students in graduate studies. The largest impact of the changes comes as a result of eliminating the Graduate Plus Loan, a program designed to bridge the gap between the cost of other financial aid and the total education costs of graduate school. Federal unsubsidized loans will still be available to graduate students, though a new aggregate cap of $100,000 has been set for borrowers. Because of these modifications, all other graduate borrowing will need to be from private lenders.
“One of the things that my office is going to try to do is… identify private loans that we believe are advantageous and come up with a preferred lender list,” said Martin. EMU is aware of financial challenges many of its undergraduate and graduate students face, and Martin’s office is working to come up with possible courses of action for students who need to cover any gaps in funding. He says, “It’s going to be some additional effort, but we think providing information to students about private lenders, we believe will serve you well.”
