The U.S. Department of Education has posted in the Federal Register the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) initiative.
An unpublished version was posted on January 29th. The notice is now officially published as of Friday January 30th.
This NPRM springs from the work of the RISE Committee, which brought together stakeholders to develop consensus regulatory language for implementing OBBBA’s provisions. After months of negotiations, the committee agreed on a comprehensive set of proposed rules that now form the basis of this Federal Register notice, which will be open for public comment before final regulations are adopted.
The NPRM outlines several major changes to federal student loan policy and regulations, including:
- New Loan Limits
- Repayment Reform
- Professional Degree Definitions
- Loan Rehabilitation and Borrower Protections
The public comment is now open through March 2, 2026. The comment period allows students, institutions, and other stakeholders to weigh in before final rules take effect, which is anticipated to begin July 1, 2026.