Republicans are coming to terms with the oppressive nature of the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail the types of degree programs that qualify for federal aid.

The administration has tried to assert ideological control over various colleges and universities, following a model that authoritarian leaders — such as Adolf Hitler — have deployed for ages. And now the Education Department is defending a new federal rule that could hamstring students in certain degree programs.

The rule will allow the use of IRS data to assess whether earnings for graduates of certain programs should prevent those programs from being eligible for the federal Direct Loan Program.

After The New Republic noted last week that the rule could have dire consequences for those pursuing degrees in fields such as social work, art and religious studies — to name a few examples — the Education Department got defensive.

“Too many graduates report delaying major life milestones like buying a home or starting a family,” the agency wrote on X. “Why? Because low return-on-investment programs saddled them with unmanageable debt that was never going to translate into a real-world job.”

“Federal student loans are not a welfare program for failing college programs,” the post added.

But some Republicans already see the rule’s obvious pitfalls, evidenced by the lawmakers we’re seeing bristle over the potential threat to religious studies. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and James Lankford of Oklahoma introduced legislation last week that would create a carve-out for religious studies programs and other faith-based disciplines.

“A student who feels called to pastor a church or serve as a missionary should not lose access to student aid because Washington measures the value of that calling by a paycheck,” Lankford said in a statement.

Lankford’s press release touted support for the Religious Education Fairness Act from conservative groups such as Alliance Defending Freedom, as well as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and various associations that represent Christian schools.

Ironically, it seems that this new rule, which is set to take effect next year, could have an adverse impact on MAGA world’s push for Christian nationalism, since there are numerous conservative schools that serve as propagators of MAGA evangelicalism — with students who rely on financial aid. And MAGA Christians seem to understand this.

That’s why a better title for Cruz and Lankford’s bill would be the “Religious Education Preferential Treatment Act.” Because on one hand, it’s good that some Republicans are calling out the threats to academic freedom. But their focus on protecting religious studies programs over all others is senseless.

It’s fair to argue that these programs might serve some kind of social good that can’t be quantified by graduates’ earnings. But there’s no reason to think graduates of those programs are likely to contribute more to society than other students whose programs might be deprived of federal aid — be they teaching aides, social workers or artists.

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