The Higher Education Reform and Opportunity Act significantly amends the Higher Education Act of 1965, primarily focusing on fiscal accountability, student success transparency, and school accountability for student loans. A key provision is the termination of existing federal direct loans by September 30, 2028, for new disbursements, replacing them with new Federal Direct simplification loans starting July 1, 2025. These new loans feature fixed interest rates, accrue interest immediately, and impose strict annual and aggregate borrowing limits for undergraduate and graduate students. Crucially, these simplification loans are explicitly excluded from any student loan forgiveness programs, including income-contingent repayment, and the bill phases out existing loan forgiveness for most loans made after July 1, 2025. The legislation also introduces a framework for accreditation reform , allowing states to establish alternative accreditation systems for a broader range of postsecondary education providers, including traditional institutions, apprenticeship programs, and various courses. States must submit detailed plans for these systems, which, if approved, would enable these alternative-accredited entities to qualify for Title IV federal funding. These state-accredited programs would be exempt from certain existing federal accreditation requirements, and states would be required to report on student completion, transfer, and degree attainment rates. To enhance transparency in higher education , the bill mandates that institutions participating in Title IV programs annually publish extensive data on their websites. This includes information on student financial aid receipt, enrollment status, and key student success metrics such as completion rates, transfer rates, and progression to higher education. Institutions must also report on post-graduation outcomes, including employment rates and median earnings at various intervals, disaggregated by program of study. Furthermore, detailed loan repayment metrics, such as average federal loan debt, default rates, and non-repayment rates, must be published. Finally, the bill introduces school accountability for student loans by requiring institutions to pay an annual "default rate fine" to the Secretary of Education. This fine is calculated based on an applicable percentage of outstanding loans for which regular on-time payments are not being made. Institutions receive a credit for each Pell Grant recipient who graduates, and the bill grants institutions flexibility in counseling students on financial aid, including the option to award less than the maximum federal aid if the cost of attendance is lower.