Education Dept Expands Higher Loan Eligibility to 29 Graduate Degrees After Judge Blocks Limits
Updated
Updated · PBS NewsHour · Jul 7
Education Dept Expands Higher Loan Eligibility to 29 Graduate Degrees After Judge Blocks Limits
3 articles · Updated · PBS NewsHour · Jul 7
Summary
The Education Department widened eligibility for higher federal graduate loan caps to about 29 professional degree programs, up from 11, after a judge temporarily blocked parts of its new limits.
The blocked rules had excluded fields such as nursing and physician assistant training by adding criteria beyond Congress' examples for professional degrees, prompting a lawsuit from affected groups.
$50,000 a year and $200,000 lifetime remain the higher borrowing thresholds for qualifying professional programs, but the department says the expanded list is temporary and plans to keep fighting the case.
A separate accountability rule has already taken effect, warning programs whose graduates earn less than high school or bachelor's degree peers and threatening federal loan access after two failed years, with the biggest effects likely by 2028.