Education Today: Big Help or Heavy Lift?

New federal student loan changes could transform how Rhode Islanders pay for college, graduate school, and professional degrees — while proposed shifts at the U.S. Department of Education could reshape K–12 classrooms. From borrowing caps to changes in Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) to the future of federal education support, what’s at stake for students and families across the state?

On Law 401: Legal Issues Decoded, co-hosts Nicole Dyszlewski and Michael Donnelly-Boylen talk with U.S. Senator Jack Reed about the legal, financial, and policy impacts of these changes
— and how they might affect education from kindergarten through professional school.

Topics include:

• Key changes to federal student loan programs and who they affect
• How new rules could alter student loan forgiveness for public-interest careers
• Why “professional” programs face different rules — and who’s included
• What tighter loan caps and loss of subsidized loans mean for working families
• Possible effects of downsizing the U.S. Department of Education
• How Rhode Islanders can respond through legal and political channels
  

Listen and subscribe to Law 401: Legal Issues Decoded — legal conversations made accessible. Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF):
  https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation
• U.S. Department of Education on restoring PSLF: https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-
  release/us-department-of-education-concludes-negotiated-rulemaking-session-restore-
  public-service-loan-forgiveness
• White House Presidential Action on PSLF: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-
  actions/2025/03/restoring-public-service-loan-forgiveness/
• RWU Law’s Public Interest Loan Repayment Assistance Program (PILRAP):
  https://law.rwu.edu/admission/financing-your-legal-education/public-interest-loan-
  repayment-assistance-program-pilrap
  

Starting with this episode, Law 401 will now release weekly — new episodes every Tuesday.