Overview
- Federal legislation that took effect in July 2026 ties federal student loan eligibility to graduates earning at least the state median for high-school graduates, which in California is about $36,000 a year.
- An analysis of preliminary Department of Education earnings data shows roughly 300 California programs fell below that $36,000 benchmark, with large concentrations in cosmetology, medical assisting, theater, film and fine arts.
- Most failing programs are at for-profit career colleges but several community college and four-year programs at CSU and UC campuses also appear on the list.
- The earnings measure uses 2022–2023 tax returns for students who graduated in 2017–18 and 2018–19, a method critics say misses industry relevance, self-employment or the longer career timelines common in the arts.
- Programs have at least two years to demonstrate improved outcomes and cosmetology schools were granted an extra year, with loss of federal loan access possible as soon as July 1, 2028 and for cosmetology no earlier than July 1, 2029, and the rule revives decades of federal attempts to hold low-performing programs accountable.