President Donald Trump's massive tax and spending package will bring sweeping changes to federal student loans, in part by capping how much money people can borrow from the federal government to pay for college and graduate school.

In the first quarter of 2024, Gen Z made up 18% of the workforce, according to the Department of Labor, but 18- to 25-year-olds made up nearly 25% of all new hires in skilled trade industries that year, according to Gusto.

The funding crisis stems largely from the end of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, which pumped billions of federal dollars into school districts during the Covid pandemic. As of September 2024, those funds have dried up.

A judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate some of the education grants it had nixed as part of its work to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.