They Changed the Rules While We Weren’t Looking
New student loan regulations just reshaped who gets to become the next generation of Black doctors, lawyers, and teachers. And almost nobody’s talking about it.
I spent this week reading federal student loan regulations.
I know—not exactly riveting content. But here’s the thing: buried in the fine print of rules that just cleared the U.S. Department of Education, I found something that made my stomach drop.
These aren’t just policy tweaks. These are pipeline decisions. And in 10 years, we’re going to look around our communities and wonder where all the Black principals, school counselors, and social workers went.
The answer is in documents most people will never read.
So I read them for you. And I broke it all down in this week’s episode of Color Commentary.
Listen to the full episode here →
What This Episode Is Really About
On the surface, the new federal student loan rules sound... fine. Reasonable, even. Cap excessive borrowing. Simplify repayment. Hold predatory colleges accountable.
But here’s what I walk through in the episode: when you cap borrowing without changing the price, you’re not making education more accessible. You’re just deciding who gets to access it at all.
If you’re from a family with wealth, these rules don’t touch you. Your parents write the check. You go to medical school, law school, get your credentials, and move on.
But if you’re a first-generation college student? If you’re Black, working-class, or from a community systematically locked out of wealth-building?
These caps just became a ceiling on your ambition.
The Question Nobody’s Asking
In the episode, I ask a question that’s been haunting me: Where do the teachers, counselors, and administrators serving Black and brown students come from?
They come from the community. They go to grad school. They get their credentials. They come back and serve.
But what happens when the cost of getting those credentials is capped at a number that only works if you already have family wealth?
What happens when the only people who can afford to become principals or school psychologists are people who don’t actually need the salary?
The pipeline dries up. And we’re watching it happen in real time.
Why I Made This Episode Now
Through my work with Energy Convertors, I train students to become education researchers. We teach them to read data, ask hard questions, and spot the patterns that others miss.
One pattern our student fellows keep finding: the systems that claim to help us are often the same systems quietly closing doors.
These new borrowing caps? They’re closing doors.
The extended repayment timelines? Closing doors.
The phase-out of income-driven plans that actually worked? Closing doors.
And if we don’t talk about it now—loudly, clearly, with specifics—we’re going to wake up in 2035 and realize we let an entire generation get locked out.
Not because they weren’t smart enough. Not because they didn’t work hard enough.
But because they couldn’t afford the fine print.
What You’ll Hear in This Episode
I break this down the way I do every Color Commentary episode: black and white first, then full color.
In the Black & White section, I give you the straight facts:
What’s actually changing in the federal loan system
The new borrowing caps for graduate and professional students
Which income-driven repayment plans are being eliminated
What the new “Repayment Assistance Plan” actually does
In the Color Commentary section, I tell you what I really think:
Why borrowing caps without price controls are just a rationing system
How these rules will reshape who gets to serve in our communities
What my Awareness/Navigation/Duty framework means for students making decisions right now
Why individual agency isn’t enough when the game is rigged
What we need from students, educators, policymakers, and all of us
This isn’t background noise. This is the conversation we should have been having months ago.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Here’s something I say in the episode that I need to repeat here:
Individual agency is not enough.
You can be the most informed, strategic, financially literate student in the world, and these borrowing caps will still limit what you can do. You can navigate perfectly and still hit a ceiling that your wealthier peers don’t have.
That’s not a personal failure. That’s a system working exactly as designed.
So yes, we need students to understand the rules. We need them to make informed choices.
But we also need to be honest about what those choices look like when the system is rigged.
And that’s what this episode is about.
Listen Now
These regulations aren’t theoretical. They’re active. They’re affecting students making decisions right now about where to apply, what to study, whether grad school is even possible.
If you’re a student, a parent, an educator, a counselor, or anyone who cares about who gets to lead in our communities for the next generation—this episode is for you.
Listen to “Fine Print and Black Futures: How New Student Loan Rules Rewrite the Game” →
And after you listen, I want to hear from you. Email me at colorcommentarypod@gmail.com. Tell me what you think. Tell me what I missed. Tell me what’s happening in your community.
Because here’s the thing about Color Commentary: we’re figuring out what this show can be together. Your feedback shapes the journey.
So let’s talk about the fine print. Before it’s too late.
About Color Commentary
Color Commentary is a podcast where the stories shaping our world are told in black and white first, then examined in full color. Each week, I break down the news with clear facts, then add my personal analysis and insights.
Sometimes it’s just me. Sometimes we have guests. But it’s always real talk about the systems that shape our lives—and what we can do about them.
New episodes drop every Thursday. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and join the conversation.
Dr. Charles Cole, III is the Founder & Executive Director of Energy Convertors, a national nonprofit focused on youth-led education research. He holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and hosts Color Commentary, where news is delivered in black and white, then discussed in full color.
Got thoughts? Email colorcommentarypod@gmail.com or leave a comment below.