Overview:
New federal regulations tied to H.R.1 will sharply limit which graduate and professional programs qualify for higher federal loan caps, raising concerns that the reduced borrowing access could worsen workforce shortages and push more students toward private loans or away from advanced degrees altogether.
The Department of Education and a federal rulemaking committee have agreed on new regulations tied to H.R.1 that will significantly reshape graduate and professional student borrowing.
The law caps federal loans at $100,000 for graduate students and $200,000 for professional students, while ending Grad PLUS loans in 2026. Because only “professional” programs qualify for the higher limit, negotiators narrowed that list to just 11 fields, including medicine, law, pharmacy, dentistry, clinical psychology, and a small set of doctoral programs.
Fields like nurse practitioner, physician assistant, architecture, accounting, social work, and education were not included, raising concerns about access and workforce shortages.
Experts warn that the $200,000 cap won’t cover full medical school costs (public avg: $286,000; private avg: $390,000), potentially pushing more students into private loans or out of advanced education entirely.
The New York Times noted earlier this year that the new cap on professional program loans is expected to deepen the nation’s doctor shortage because federal loans will no longer cover the full cost of medical school, averaging $286,454 at public institutions and $390,848 at private ones, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Aissa Canchola Bañez, policy director at the Student Borrower Protection Center, told the Times that these limits could “push students and families into the private loan market, where they take on more risk and have less consumer protection, or simply push people out of higher education altogether.”
The Department plans to release the regulation for public comment early next year.
