For the first time in five years, certain forms of student loan forgiveness will be taxable following a change in federal tax policy this year.

The “professional” label would allow students to borrow larger amounts of federal loans to pursue graduate degrees.

The proposal has drawn pushback from the nursing community, which argues the reclassification could limit students’ financial access to advanced nursing degrees.

Since he took office, President Donald Trump has called for the dismantling of the Education Department, saying it has been overrun by liberal thinking. In July the U.S. Supreme Court upheld mass layoffs that halved the department’s staff.

The department has been largely responsible for oversight, enforcing discrimination laws and distributing aid money for schools with low-income students and students with disabilities. Federal funding makes up a relatively small portion of public school budgets, roughly 14%.

The agency’s main role is financial. Annually, it distributes billions in federal money to colleges and schools and manages the federal student loan portfolio. Closing the department would mean redistributing each of those duties to another agency.

Elon Musk’s DOGE team already has gained access to a database housing personal information on millions of students and parents with federal student loans, according to two people with knowledge of the issue.

Around 43 million Americans have student loan debt, amounting to $1.5 trillion. If you have student loans, here’s what you need to know.

The delays have changed where students enrolled, with many students forced to pick a college with limited information about their financial picture.

It’s a more targeted proposal than the one the U.S. Supreme Court struck down last year. The new plan uses a different legal basis and seeks to cancel or reduce loans for more than 25 million Americans.

The average student loan debt for Illinoisans is nearly $38,000. Almost 55% of the more than 1 million borrowers in Illinois are under the age of 35, according to the Education Data Initiative.

“Pandemic relief fraud by CPS employees causes significant reputational harm to CPS and diminishes trust in the school district,” The Office of Inspector General wrote in the report.

The picture for student loan debt has been pretty tumultuous over the last couple of years. Borrowers will soon begin repaying their federal student loans after a forbearance period ends this month.

Millions applied for student loan forgiveness before President Joe Biden’s plan was put on hold amid legal challenges. The forgiveness plan’s fate is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, which just heard arguments on the case.

The Supreme Court is about to hear arguments over President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan, which impacts millions of borrowers who could see their loans wiped away or reduced.

Borrowers who apply before mid-November should see forgiveness before Jan. 1, when payments on loans are scheduled to restart after a pause during the pandemic.