The U.S. Department of Education finalized limits on federal loans for graduate programs on Nov. 6, and changes have sparked disapproval from many professional groups.

Along with eliminating the Grad PLUS loan program and limiting public service loan forgiveness, the rules limit the $200,000 lifetime loan cap to 10 professional degree programs.

Programs no longer considered “professional” include nursing, speech-language pathology, physical therapy, physician’s assistants and more.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing and other industry associations pushed back at the idea of no longer being considered “professional” and relegated to $100,000 in loans, the same as other graduate or doctoral programs.

What is a ‘professional degree?’

According to final rules within the Reimagining and Improving Student Education Committee, a professional degree “signifies both completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor’s degree, where professional licensure is also generally required.”

The following programs are eligible for the $200,000 lifetime loan cap:

• Pharmacy (Pharm.D.)
• Dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.)
• Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.)
• Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.)
• Law (L.L.B. or J.D.)
• Medicine (M.D.)
• Optometry (O.D.)
• Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.)
• Theology (M.Div., or M.H.L.)

All other graduate programs would have a cap of $20,500 a year and $100,000 in total. The limits for professional degrees would be $50,000 annually and capped at $200,000.

Is nursing still a professional degree?

The Education Department said on Nov. 24 the term “professional degree” is an internal definition about programs with higher loan limits.

It is “not a value judgement about the importance of programs. It has no bearing on whether a program is professional in nature or not,” a government statement said.

The nursing association said in a news release on Nov. 7 the rule is purposely excluding the “nation’s largest health care profession.”

Advanced-level degrees like the Master of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice and research-focused nursing PhD are no longer considered professional degrees.

“Excluding nursing from the definition of professional degree programs disregards decades of progress toward parity across the health professions and contradicts the Department’s own acknowledgment that professional programs are those leading to licensure and direct practice,” the AACN said.

About 95% of nursing students borrow below the annual limit, according to the Education Department.

“Placing a cap on loans will push the remaining graduate nursing programs to reduce their program costs, ensuring that nurses will not be saddled with unmanageable student loan debt,” the department said.

About 80% of the nursing workforce does not have a graduate degree. The department said this rule change does not affect undergraduate degrees.

The cost of the University of Alabama’s doctor of nursing practice degree varies depending on the student’s specialty. The family nurse practitioner focus requires about 63 curriculum hours. Tuition, not including fees, is about $30,000. The program requires a minimum of 1,000 hours in clinical work.

Are the rule changes final?

The Education Department said public feedback was considered prior to the rulemaking committee’s decision.

“The public will have another opportunity to weigh in on this issue” next year, the Department said. Changes may occur because of future public comments.

The Grad PLUS loan will be phased out July 1, 2026. Eligibility for public service loans will depend on whether organizations comply with “federal immigration law.”

The federal student loan changes were based on Trump’s July 4 budget.