A federal judge’s ruling last week has opened the door – at least temporarily – for more graduate students to be able to borrow larger sums for their education, an important development for those seeking nursing and related degrees in the LTC sector.

At issue is a provision of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act that declared new graduate students will be subject to an annual federal student loan cap of $20,500 a year and an aggregate limit of $100,000, while “professional students” can take out up to $50,000 for a total of $200,000.

The legal dispute centers on the fact the administration narrowed the list of “professional” degrees, stripping nursing and other healthcare degrees from the list.

But a federal judge in Washington, DC, last week froze the new U.S. Dept. of Education definition of a “professional degree.” Judge Beryl A. Howell, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said that the agency, during its regulatory process, had narrowed the scope of those degrees beyond what Congress intended.

Dana Ritchie, associate vice president of constituency services and workforce for the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living, said in a blog post that “the decision is especially important for the long-term care profession because advanced practice registered nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists are critical members of the workforce.”

RNs and the other classifications listed did not make the “professional” designation under the new rules that have since been stayed by Howell’s ruling.

Ritchie added that preserving access to higher federal student loan borrowing limits may help reduce financial barriers for students entering these professions and support the recruitment and retention of clinicians who provide care in long term care communities.

Larger Loan Caps

On Monday, the Education Dept. published an updated and longer list of over 20 professional degrees that will be subject to the larger loan caps, at least during the court’s stay.

Those include registered nursing, physician associates and speech-language pathology.

The preliminary injunction does not prevent implementation of the statutory graduate and professional student loan limits enacted by Congress.

“Rather, it temporarily prohibits the Education Dept. from enforcing its narrower definition of which academic programs qualify as ‘professional’ for purposes of those higher borrowing limits while the case proceeds,” Ritchie said. 

Questions or comments on this article? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com.