President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduces new limits on federal student loans for graduate degrees, aiming to address the rising costs of these programs and reduce overall student debt. Graduate students have accounted for more than half of new federal student loans in recent years, with their debt now comprising half of the $1.7 trillion outstanding federal student loan portfolio.
The Act requires the U.S. Department of Education to identify which “professional degree” programs will be eligible for higher borrowing limits. A committee assembled by the Department has reached a consensus definition that includes Medicine (M.D.), Dentistry (D.D.S./D.M.D.), Law (L.L.B./J.D.), and several other high-cost fields as qualifying for a $200,000 borrowing limit. Other graduate or doctoral students would have a cap of $100,000 on federal loans. These changes do not affect undergraduate students.
Some concerns have been raised regarding nursing degrees and their eligibility under the new rules. The Department addressed these claims directly:
"Myth: The Trump Administration does not view nurses as professionals because they are not classified as a 'professional degree.'"
"Fact: The definition of a 'professional degree' is an internal definition used by the Department to distinguish among programs that qualify for higher loan limits, not a value judgement about the importance of programs. It has no bearing on whether a program is professional in nature or not."
Another concern relates to access to loans for nursing students:
"Myth: Nurses will have a harder time securing federal student loans for their programs and this would contribute to the nationwide nursing shortage."
"Fact: Department of Education data indicates that 95% of nursing students borrow below the annual loan limit and therefore are not affected by the new caps."
The Department also notes that most nurses—about 80%—do not hold graduate degrees, and undergraduate nursing programs remain unaffected by these lending limits.
There has also been speculation about how these decisions were made:
"Myth: The Department of Education made this decision to exclude nurses unilaterally."
"Fact: The Department solicited feedback from the public and hosted a negotiated rulemaking committee, which included a broad range of higher education stakeholders, to regulate on changes to loan limits included in the Act. The public will have another opportunity to weigh in on this issue as the Department finalizes the rule early next year."
The proposed rule defining “professional student” has yet to be published by the Department. Since there was unanimous agreement among committee members regarding the definition used for increased loan limits, this language must appear in any proposed rule but could still change after public comment.
Finally, questions about tuition rates were addressed:
"Myth: Because of these changes, the price of tuition will go up."
"Fact: Since 2007, graduate and professional students have been able to borrow up to the full cost of attendance. This has allowed colleges and universities to dramatically increase tuition rates, even for credentials with modest earnings potential, which has saddled too many borrowers with debts they find difficult to repay. The Act’s annual federal loan caps are already reining in inflated prices at graduate programs across the country."
