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8 Colleges Closing In 2026: Here's What To Know About These Closures And Mergers May 14, 2026

Show notes

Anna Maria College's closure announcement last week brought the 2026 U.S. nonprofit college shutdown count to eight. The 80-year-old institution in Paxton, Massachusetts said its Board of Trustees could no longer project the financial resources to sustain academic operations past the spring 2026 semester. This decision came less than two weeks after the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education formally flagged the college as a closure risk.

Anna Maria's announcement came the same day workers at Hampshire College (which announced its own permanent closure on April 14) launched a relief fund ahead of June layoffs. Together, the two Massachusetts institutions underscored the accelerating pressure on small, tuition-dependent liberal arts colleges in the Northeast.

Since the summer of 2025, a steady cadence of small-college shutdowns and high-profile mergers have reshaped parts of American higher education.

A parallel trend has emerged: a growing number of schools are choosing merger or acquisition instead of winding down.

Department of Education Finalizes Loan Limits and Repayment Plan Changes May 13, 2026

Show notes

The U.S. Department of Education published its final rule implementing the student loan provisions of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, ending Grad PLUS for new borrowers, capping Parent PLUS for the first time, narrowing the definition of "professional student", and consolidating the federal repayment system into two plans for new borrowers.

Most provisions take effect July 1, 2026, with rehabilitation and deferment changes following on July 1, 2027, and the legacy income-contingent plans fully sunsetting on July 1, 2028.

The 647-page rule (PDF File) follows a negotiated rulemaking process that opened in late 2025 and drew more than 80,000 public comments. The Department says the package will save taxpayers $409 billion and reduce student debt by $224 billion by curbing over-borrowing.

Preston Cooper on the ROI of College, Grad School Risks, and What AI Changes About the Math May 12, 2026

Show notes

Higher education economist Preston Cooper joins The College Investor at the ASU+GSV Summit to talk about when a bachelor’s degree pays off, where grad school goes wrong, and how families should think about ROI in a labor market that is changing fast.

Recorded live at the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, Robert Farrington sits down with Preston Cooper, the researcher behind some of the most widely cited work on the return on investment of college and graduate school, to unpack what the numbers actually say — and what students and families should do with that information during admissions season.

How The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) Works: Payments, Eligibility, And Forgiveness May 11, 2026

Show notes

The number of federal student loan repayment plans is shrinking. Starting July 1, 2026, new Direct Loan borrowers will only have access to two plans: the Tiered Standard Plan and the Repayment Assistance Plan, known as RAP.

The Department of Education recently refreshed StudentAid for RAP, showing the repayment math, and how the plan's interest subsidy and matching principal benefit actually work.

Here's a clear look at how RAP calculates your payment, who can use it, and the details that catch borrowers off guard: especially married couples and anyone with Parent PLUS debt.

43 Million Americans Have Some College But No Degree — Here’s Why They Left May 10, 2026

Show notes

A new Trellis Strategies survey (PDF File) of 3,182 former students who left college without a credential finds that financial pressure and life circumstances (not academic struggles) are the top reasons they walked away.

This matters because students who leave college without a credential are usually the ones that face the most financial difficulty after leaving school. When you drop out of college, you still owe any you student loan debt you've already taken and may face repayment of other aid.

Education Department Tells Borrowers To Expect Repayment, Not Forgiveness May 09, 2026

Show notes

Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent told an American Enterprise Institute audience on Thursday that federal student loan forgiveness “is not happening,” highlighting the administration’s tone as it moves defaulted accounts to the Treasury Department and winds down the SAVE plan.

This comes from a livestream Q&A session, which marks one of the most public conversations yet around the massive changes to student loans coming this year.

Judge Approves $425M Capital One 360 Savings Settlement — Payments Expected July May 08, 2026

Show notes

A federal judge has approved a $425 million class action settlement with Capital One over allegations that the bank paid low interest rates to older 360 Savings account holders while offering a nearly identical product (360 Performance Savings) at substantially higher rates.

U.S. District Judge David J. Novak signed the final approval order on April 20, 2026 (PDF File), clearing the way for payments to go out to millions of eligible customers. Capital One denies any wrongdoing.

Compare the best high-yield savings accounts today here >>

New Analysis Projects Class Of 2026 Will Borrow $43,500 For A Bachelor’s Degree May 07, 2026

Show notes

High school seniors heading to public four-year colleges this fall could graduate with more than $43,000 in student loans, according to a new NerdWallet analysis of National Center for Education Statistics data.

Why It Matters: The projection lands as federal repayment plans change on July 1, the SAVE plan ends, and AI pressure on entry-level jobs pushes more students to question whether a bachelor's degree still pencils out.

Treasury Set To Ramp Up Defaulted Student Loan Collections In July May 06, 2026

Show notes

Hundreds of thousands of federal student loan borrowers in default could start hearing from the government and their debt collectors as soon as July, as the Treasury Department prepares to take over a piece of the Education Department's collection work, Politico reported.

Why It Matters: This would be the first major step in moving the $1.7 trillion federal student loan portfolio out of the Education Department and the first sustained collection contact most defaulted borrowers have received since the Covid-era payment pause began in March 2020. Collections have been delayed various times since that paused ended in 2023.

Democratic Senators File Resolution to Block Trump PSLF Employer Restrictions May 05, 2026

Show notes

A group of Democratic senators led by Tim Kaine (D-VA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution (PDF File) this week to overturn the Trump administration’s new PSLF rule that gives Education Secretary Linda McMahon authority to disqualify certain public service employers from the program. A companion resolution was introduced in the House by Reps. Joe Courtney (D-CT), Alma Adams (D-NC), and Scott Peters (D-CA).

The resolution currently has 27 Senate cosponsors, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Once the senators collect 30 signatures, the resolution can be called for a floor vote, where it would need a simple majority to pass.

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