The Big Education Racket: Trump’s Rule Ends the Blank Check

The federal student loan system has been a rigged game for decades — colleges raised tuition without consequences, handed out credentials with little real-world value, and left students and taxpayers holding the bag. On this hard-hitting stand-alone episode of The Right Side, Doug Billings breaks down President Trump’s groundbreaking new Earnings Accountability rule and the Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) that’s finally putting the Big Education Racket on a performance plan.

Doug explains how the rule works (program-by-program earnings tests, warnings, and consequences for failure), why it’s not a ban on any major, and the crucial distinction between real learning and expensive credentials. He delivers the analysis you won’t hear anywhere else: how federal loans insulated universities from market discipline, the human cost of the debt crisis, and the hopeful path forward for families, students, and America’s future.

This episode cuts through the noise with clear conservative insight on accountability, opportunity, and restoring common sense to higher education. If you’re tired of worthless degrees and runaway tuition, this is must-listen content that empowers better choices for the next generation.

✅ Timely Trump policy breakdown
✅ Beyond the headlines analysis
✅ Pro-student, pro-taxpayer, pro-opportunity

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

The Right Side with Doug Billings. Hi, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Right Side with Doug Billings. Today on the program, the big education racket. The big education racket that's been bleeding families dry for decades is finally getting slammed with real accountability. And President Trump just dropped the hammer. No more blank checks for worthless degrees while tuition skyrockets and kids drown in debt. Today on the right side, I'm going to go through the noise. I'm going to cut through all of the headlines. I'm going to give you the hard-hitting analysis that you won't hear anywhere else on how this new rule protects your kids and it forces real results from colleges. And I think it brings common sense back to education. Finally, buckle up, ladies and gentlemen. The right side is now upon you. Are you ready? Let's go. The right side with Doug Billing.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

We are not liberal snowflakes who melt away in the face of tragedy, adversity, and challenge. We are a covenant nation under God. And his divine providence is not dead and it's not gone. It is living within each and every one of you. And you will bring it to life in such a way that the world has never seen before. We never back down. We never give up. We march forward.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

All right. Hello, America. Hello, world. Welcome to this special edition of The Right Side. I'm Doug Billings. Ladies and gentlemen, today I want to go deep on a topic that affects families and it affects taxpayers. It affects the future of this country like few other issues do. I'm calling it the big education racket. We've heard of big pharma, big tech. Big education is out there and it doesn't get any attention. I'm going to tell you how President Trump and his administration are finally putting the educational system of America on a performance plan. No fluff, no distractions, just straight talk today about what's been broken, why it stayed broken for so long, and what real accountability looks like moving forward in America in terms of education. So, my friends, look, when we understand the incentives of any given issue, we understand the game. All right. And right now, that game is changing for the better. Don't forget, by the way, empshield.com promo code dub. This little device right here attaches to your breaker box at home, your car battery, empshield.com. This device will protect you against an EMP explosion. Not the kind of explosion that blows things up, a detonation that will fry your electronics, your car, your vehicle, your home. EMPShield.com. I can't say it enough. So let's start with the heart of the problem and this big education issue, because for decades we've been sold this idea that a college degree, almost any college degree, was the only pathway to a good life. Society pushed kids towards campuses like it was mandatory. And Washington backed it all up with an ocean of federal student loans. And the universities, they had the golden ticket. They could raise tuition year after year, roll out all of these new programs, you know, market really fancy credentials, and face almost zero consequences if their graduates struggled in the real world. The money flowed in up front, and the risk landed on you and on me, the students, the parents, the taxpayers. Colleges never equaled education, ladies and gentlemen. Never. I'll say it again. College never equaled education. Learning equals education. That's a truth that's worth repeating and remembering. And somewhere in this country along the line, we confused pieces of paper with actual knowledge and skills that prepare people for life. The federal loan pipeline insulated colleges from the market reality. They had no skin in the game. They could charge whatever they wanted. They could promise whatever they wanted. And if it doesn't work out, well, that's just somebody else's problem. We got no skin in the game. Nope, no accountability. And the result was skyrocketing tuition, mountains of debt, and too many young people left holding the bag with degrees that delivered very little economic return on their investment, on their loan. So now look at what's happening. In the Department of Education, under the Trump administration, they finalized the what they call the student tuition and transparency system, stats for short. Student tuition and transparency system. And they they're working on this in tandem with what they call an earnings accountability rule. All right. In plain English, undergraduate programs under this program have to show that their graduates earn more on median than typical working adults in that same age group with just a high school diploma. Then graduate programs. They need to beat what the bachelor's degree holders make in real numbers. So all of this is measured program by program and school by school. This is not some nationwide ban on certain majors. Okay. They're going to look at real earnings data, four years out, wages, IRS information, self-employment information. So, in other words, one bad year will trigger a warning to students. Two out of three bad years, and the program risks losing its access to federal district loans, direct loans. So this is account. I'm in favor of this. I like it. Results versus rhetoric. This is the accountability mechanism that was missing for a generation in our educational system. Colleges could, you know, they think about what they could do before this. They could sell enormously expensive credentials. Credentials. They could collect government-backed money up front, leave the student, and eventually leave the taxpayer holding the debt when the promised opportunity never materialized. And there's a difference between credentials and education, folks. There's a difference between credentials and learning. But that's the racket. It's not education itself. The distortion that's created when good intentions met unlimited funding without results, that's the racket. It's not education as such. So, ladies and gentlemen, this is not about killing fields of study, not at all. You're still free to pursue philosophy or theology or history, the arts, teaching, ministry, all of those pursuits that have enormous intellectual, cultural, and spiritual value. The distinction is crucial. Taxpayers are not constitutionally or morally obligated to guarantee unlimited loans for programs that repeatedly leave graduates financially worse off than if they'd never taken the credential in the first place. That's the line. That's the story. That's what this is all about. So schools have choices. They can lower their prices, they can improve outcomes, they can subsidize worthy programs themselves if they choose to, they can attract private investment, many of them do that already. Or they can make, you know, the tough decisions. And that's how markets and accountability are supposed to work. Think about what this tells us about the state of play in America. Because we let a system grow where credentials replaced competence and good intentions replaced results. You know, I'm a big fan of young people. Young people heard from every direction that college was the only smart choice. What about vocational paths, the trades, apprenticeships, entrepreneurial ships? All of those got undervalued on purpose. The human cost has been very real in all of this. Stories of graduates who are drowning in debt, even delayed marriage and delaying families because they're living in their parents' basement or their working jobs that are way below what they were promised. Parents are also sacrificing their retirement security, trying to take care of their kids. Taxpayers are on the hook for default loans that are now running into the hundreds of billions of dollars, by the way. There's a newly reported federal piece of data that shows about 9.5 million borrowers are in default. That's one in five federal loan recipients is in default. So that's not abstract policy that I'm talking about. That's crushed dreams. And it's also strained families across the entire country. But as always, I'm all about hope. And here's where real hope enters into this picture because the rule that I'm talking about forces a return to reality and to opportunity, by the way. It protects future students from bad bets, bad choices, and it preserves the institutions to focus on what actually delivers value. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, that's how it should be. This all opens up wider doors for alternative paths. And these alternative paths that could fit into a young person's actual calling in life, your calling, as well as your talents and the economy's needs. I'm a big fan of what your calling in life is. What are you called? What do you want to do when you grow up? Well, that's one thing, but what are you called to do? What are you called to do in this life? When education aligns with results instead of rhetoric, the whole country gets stronger because we get a better workforce, we get more self-reliant citizens, and we get less burden on families and taxpayers. So this is actually conservative principle in action. Personal responsibility, limited government overreach where it doesn't belong, and genuine respect for opportunity in this country. And I think, you know, about my own situation, my own son, Michael, the education and the journey he had, because he's got Down syndrome, and that whole journey that we've walked together. We, ladies and gentlemen, we've seen, you and I, what happens when systems focus on real potential and practical outcomes. I saw it with my son, Michael. You've probably seen it in your life with your kids. When systems focus on real potential and practical outcomes instead of a one size fits all promise that leads nowhere. That same spirit, in my opinion, needs to guide how we approach learning in this country. Because not every young person needs or or wants the same four-year track. What they deserve is honest guidance and opinions that lead somewhere meaningful in their lives. Now, critics here are going to say that this undervalues you know socially important but lower paying fields. Okay, that's a fair point to address, and let me do it. Because the result, the response is straightforward. Congress set an earnings test. It didn't authorize different standards based on asserted social value. Colleges that believe deeply in those programs, they can fund them, they can improve them, or they can price them honestly. Okay. Taxpayers shouldn't be forced into open-ended subsidies for outcomes that don't materialize. And you know, that's not anti-education, that's pro-student and pro-taxpayer. So this move by the Trump administration is part of a larger restoration. Just like we're, you know, as of late in this country, waking up and demanding integrity elsewhere, like with secure elections, law and order, uh, competent government, bold cultural witness, and so forth. We're applying the same thing here and the same standard to higher education. No more blank checks for failure, and no more pretending that the old system was working. Real accountability is compassionate because it prevents future pain and it empowers better choices. And I think it rewards institutions that deliver the competition of that. We've got to keep pushing in this direction, folks. Parents, you've got to talk to your kids about paths that match their gifts and their calling. Young people. Don't be afraid of alternative routes. The trades, apprenticeships, starting off small, those are the things that built this country. And taxpayers, my fellow citizens, celebrate the things and the moments when government stops enabling waste. And to all of those colleges and universities out there, adapt and thrive. Or you can watch the market do what markets do. America gets stronger when learning matters more than credentials, and when results matter more than rhetoric. And I think also America gets stronger when opportunity is real instead of just promised. I think most of you agree that's the right side of education reform right there, and that's the future that we can build together. I'm all for this Trump Department of Education plan. It's long overdue. And I would appreciate it. As always, if you like, share, subscribe, and follow this program. Please prayerfully consider donating to the show over at DougBillings.us. We never charge for the program, but always need and appreciate your help. And until next time, God bless you. God bless your families and all whom you care for in this life. And remember, we're in this thing together, ladies and gentlemen. Believe it for the Republic. Cheers. The right side with Doug Billings.