Threats to College Affordability: Impacts of the OBBB on Women and Families. Education and Career Advancement

Abstract

In July 2025, President Trump signed the Republican-led H.R. 1, the "One Big Beautiful Bill" (OBBB) into law. The new law is a sweeping tax and spending package that forgoes trillions in federal revenues to award tax cuts to the wealthy while stripping essential care and protections from women and families. While implementation of the OBBB's wide-ranging provisions will be staggered in the coming months and years, the threat to women's economic security and well-being is both imminent and far-reaching across each of the Institute for Women's Policy Research's (IWPR) Federal Policy Solutions to Advance Gender Equity four priority areas. This policy brief focuses on the OBBB's impacts on women's education and career advancement, specifically on the issues outlined in IWPR's "College Affordability" and "Supporting Student Parents" policy briefs. As millions of women and their families--particularly women of color and student parents--seek higher education, explore student loan options, and face the continued burden of student loan debt, the harmful consequences of the new law will only further compound existing challenges they face in striving for economic equity and security.