A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia is suing the U.S. Department of Education over a new rule that they say unlawfully narrows the definition of a “professional” degree and thereby reduces student loan limits for people pursuing careers in fields that face critical shortages, court records show.
The case — formerly known as “State of Maryland, et al. v. U.S. Dep’t of Educ.” — was filed May 19 in federal court in the District of Maryland. It seeks to challenge parts of the Education Department’s final Reimagining and Improving Student Education rule, or RISE, saying those parts of the rule violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by “rewriting” Congress’ definition of a professional degree as spelled out in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OB3, according to higher education attorneys Tres Cleveland, Lorrie Hargrove and Brandt Hill.
Whether a degree can be classified as a professional degree matters because under OB3, effective July 1, graduate students may borrow up to $20,500 annually or $100,000 in total, while students in professional degree programs can borrow up to $50,000 annually or $200,000 total, the attorneys observe in an article in JD Supra.
The lawsuit says that the department’s RISE rule includes several professional degree requirements not found in OB3. Those requirements include that the degree must be “generally at the doctoral level,” require at least six academic years of postsecondary education; and not lead to a profession “supervised by another professional” with “more education, training, and qualifications.”
The end result is that students in many healthcare programs are being excluded from the higher loan limits, including those studying to become nurse practitioners, physical or occupational therapists, physician assistants, anesthesiologist assistants, and speech-language pathologists, the JD Supra article states.
“The Department’s approach has caused an uproar across the country from various healthcare and other fields,” particularly nursing, the attorneys state.
Many healthcare occupations are already facing future labor shortages, “and the new loan limits will discourage many prospective students from entering those programs if they simply cannot fund the degree, leading to even greater shortages in those professions,” the attorneys say.
The lawsuit asks the court to rule the department’s professional degree definition as unlawful because it violates the APA. It also asks the court to cancel the parts of the RISE rule that the coalition is challenging and to impose a permanent injunction of those parts of the rule in the coalition’s member states.
