Colleges and universities have faced major difficulties in recent years, ranging from decreasing enrollment to increasing negative public perception, but a new law that includes sweeping reforms to federal student loan programs may prove to be their toughest challenge yet, and CCI contributing writer Esther D’Amico explores how those challenges are likely to extend to the corporate integrity world.
The recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), the Trump Administration’s signature domestic policy and spending bill, limits federal funding for a number of educational loan programs, including those for borrowers seeking graduate and professional degrees like JDs and MBAs — the degrees most often required for jobs like chief compliance officer (CCO) or similar executive-level roles.
“As far as chief compliance officers right now, almost everyone’s looking for a JD or an MBA,” said John Gilmore, co-founder and managing partner at executive search firm BarkerGilmore. While there are rare exceptions, “it would be a challenge to become a CCO in this climate without that.”
Because it takes years of work experience before someone with an advanced degree becomes a CCO, the impact of the new law will not immediately be felt in the C-suite, Gilmore said. But it is likely to affect the…
