Gutfeld! Monologues - Degrees of Debt: Worthless Diplomas Just Got Expensive… for Colleges

Episode Date: July 10, 2026

As seen on Gutfeld! Guest Host Kat Timpf talks about how the Big Beautiful Bill is cracking down on "worthless" degree programs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's officially dropped out of the Senate race in Maine. But today, Plattner announced he's running for mayor of Epstein Island. There's a new viral video out of Columbia of a car with two stolen cows in the backseat. Or, as RFK Jr. calls it, grubhub. A 93-year-old Iowa man might soon become a Guinness World Record holder for being the world's oldest truck driver. He was so excited when he got the news, he accelerated to 21 miles an hour. Zoran Mamdani said that Egypt was robbed in their World Cup match versus Argentina.

He said if he was in charge, he would distribute all goals equally. Citing security concerns, President Trump switched from the new Air Force one back to the original Air Force one. It's the first time Trump has ever traded in. something new for something old. On Tuesday, a 13-year-old boy in Texas was struck by lightning inside his bedroom while playing video games. He's not injured but can now charge his phone with his toe.

An Indiana man was arrested for arson after he cut off his penis, poured gasoline on it, and then set it on fire in his family's garage. Which raises the question, Who can afford to waste gasoline like that? And finally, a New York City artist is selling street trash found near Taylor Swift's wedding at Madison Square Garden.

I am. But hey, if you want to buy garbage, you can also buy this. We'll be back with more Gutfeld. Cheers to America's 250th birthday. Get 20% off your first purchase at Fox Newswineshop.com with code FN Radio. 20% discount excludes wine club offers and cannot be combined with any other promotion. Expires July 31st, 2026. Must be 21 or older to order. Please drink responsibly.

So, there's an interesting provision in the big, beautiful bill that just took effect July 1st, and it has some universities absolutely panicking, like they just saw a white guy with dreadlocks in the quad. Why? Because it forces colleges to have some skin in the student loan game. Here's how it works. For every degree program, the government will look at. at what graduates are earning four years after finishing school. Then they compare that to what an average high school grad is earning in that state. If the college grads are earning less, the program fails the test and is subject to losing its eligibility for federal student loans. Now to fund a women's studies degree, you'll need to slip in a Walmart parking lot. Cha-ching. Now, one bad year

doesn't trigger penalties. You've got to fail two out of three. Or, as a recent college grads call it, about half the time. Only about 2 to 6% of programs are expected to lose eligibility. It's about 800 programs, which graduate about 40,000 kids a year. Those were the ones that were flagged as potentially failing the policy change. So, what degree programs could be at risk? Well, recent data suggests things like foreign language, social sciences, and performing arts are the worst for early career earnings.

and in the case of performing arts, also the worst for mid and late career earnings. Great. Now, supporters of this new rule say it's about time, because before this, colleges got paid

whether the product worked or not, which was a concept first pioneered by the cast of Fox and Friends. The student gets the debt, the taxpayer gets the bill, and the only people who never had any risk

were the colleges themselves. On the other hand, critics say the government shouldn't be involved in choosing which degrees are worth it, and that some degrees are worth more than just the money they make. Others say the government shouldn't be in the student loan business at all. It artificially inflates the amount of money available, which has caused colleges to become bloated with faculty and facilities. But regardless of where you come down, this could finally get students and parents to ask a question they should have been asking all along.

Is this degree actually going to pay for itself? Or will you need to become one of Greg's many pool boys that signs an NDA in exchange for his repaying your loans? I did that for two summers. Historically, it hasn't been popular to ask if paying for higher education is worth it. When I turned down Columbia Journalism School in favor of working in restaurants and doing internships to learn those skills for free,

a lot of people told me I was making a huge mistake. The same thing they said when I offered. to babysit the Menendez brothers. But I did what this bill is now forcing colleges to do. I looked at the math. To go to Columbia, I'd have to take out $80,000 in loans. Do you have any idea

how many cats I could get with that? Then I looked at the average starting salary for entry-level journalism jobs, and the math just didn't work. So I passed because I couldn't justify the price. It turned out to be one of the smartest decisions I ever made, and not just

because I look so hot in a uniform. Thank you. Thank you. But just about everybody at the time told me I was making the wrong choice. They said an Ivy League education is always worth it. But that's just not true.

Bottom line, this bill isn't telling anybody what they can and can't study. It's asking colleges to stand behind what they're selling. If a school believes its degree is worth several hundred thousand dollars, shouldn't be afraid to prove it. Listen ad free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts.

And Amazon Prime members can listen to this show ad free on the Amazon Music app.