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The changes, authorized through Republicans' recent budget reconciliation legislation, would impose new federal student loan caps beginning July 1, 2026. Under the proposal, students pursuing degrees designated as "professional" could borrow up to $50,000 annually with a $200,000 lifetime limit. However, graduate programs excluded from the professional category would face sharply lower caps—$20,500 per year and $100,000 over a lifetime.
The proposed rule defines professional degrees as those "signifying both completion of academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor's degree." Programs meeting this definition include medicine, law, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry and theology.
Notably absent from the list are nursing, education, physical therapy, physician assistant programs, audiology, architecture, social work and accounting—omissions that have drawn sharp criticism from professional organizations and university leaders.
Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association, called nursing's exclusion inexplicable.
"It makes no sense," she said, expressing hope the Education Department will revise the proposal before it undergoes public comment.
University of Maryland, Baltimore President Bruce E. Jarrell and Provost Roger J. Ward issued a joint statement expressing bitter disappointment with the proposal.
"We are bitterly disappointed that the federal government has taken a step that will make it much harder for students to pursue careers in health care and to fill our most critical needs," they wrote. "It's not just a matter of prestige, but of practicality. These students will have their ability to secure federally supported student loans capped at just $20,500 per year, far below the cost of those degree programs."
The University of Maryland leaders pointed to alarming workforce projections, noting that 40% of nurses nationally are expected to leave the workforce by 2029, including advanced practice nurses who provide direct patient care, order and interpret tests, and manage treatment. They also highlighted Maryland's 50% shortage of mental health professionals, many of whom are clinical social workers.
"Just a few years ago we hailed these health care providers as heroes. We all understood how critical they are to our health and well-being. We marveled at their commitment and how their years of training and hundreds of hours of clinical practice prepared them to care for us even in the most difficult of times," Jarrell and Ward stated. "We must not now dissuade or impede the next generation from following their dreams to provide meaningful and much needed care for our community."
The University of San Diego also issued a statement supporting its nursing students and criticizing the proposal's "outdated definition" of professional degrees.
"USD proudly supports our nursing students and faculty, and recognizes them as the professionals they are," the statement read. "Given the current national nursing shortage, it's more important than ever that we create a pipeline of advanced practice nurses. Graduate nursing programs are essential professional programs, and this proposed exclusion could significantly lower federal loan caps for our students."
Other professional organizations have registered objections as well. The Council on Social Work Education said it was "disheartened and concerned," while the American Academy of Audiology warned that excluding audiology could discourage students from entering the field.
The Education Department defended the proposal as necessary to prevent students from accumulating "insurmountable debt to finance degrees that do not pay off," according to Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent.
Ellen Keast, press secretary for higher education at the agency, told CBS News that 95% of nursing students would not be impacted by the new borrowing caps.
"As for the most expensive outlying 5%, enrolled students are grandfathered into current lending limits to ensure there are no barriers to completion," she said.
Keast said the previous system, which allowed graduate students to borrow unlimited amounts through the Grad PLUS program, incentivized institutions to raise tuition. "We expect that institutions charging tuition rates well above market prices will consider lowering tuition thanks to these historic reforms," she added.
However, critics predict students will instead turn to private loans with less favorable terms.
The proposed rule eliminates the Grad PLUS program entirely. The Education Department said the proposal will be published in the Federal Register for public comment but has not specified a timeline.
