How Trump's plan to change student-loan borrowing limits could affect nursing students

"The Department of Education has moved forward with President Donald Trump's plan to overhaul student-loan repayment in his "big beautiful" spending legislation, including new caps on student-loan borrowing for graduate and professional students. A big point of contention was a new definition for the programs that qualify as "professional" and allow students to borrow more under the caps. Ten programs, including law and medicine, meet the department's professional designation and qualify for the higher $200,000 lifetime borrowing cap, while other programs, including nursing, are subject to the lower $100,000 cap."

"The caps particularly angered the healthcare industry. During negotiations with the Department of Education on the proposed caps, some stakeholders argued that healthcare workers, such as nurses, might choose to leave the industry because they lack sufficient funding for their programs, thereby putting Americans who rely on healthcare services at risk. While data from the department showed that most advanced nursing programs would not be impacted by the caps, advocates still worry about the implications. An analysis of data from the Department of Education's College Scorecard found that most students in post-graduate nursing programs borrow within the new caps. Preston Cooper, a senior fellow at the conservative think-tank the American Enterprise Institute, wrote in a blog post that "the new caps will affect only a small number of programs charging exorbitant prices." Cooper said 115 of the 140 advanced nursing programs had a median debt below $100,000, based on"

The Department of Education advanced new lifetime borrowing caps for graduate and professional students as part of a repayment overhaul. A definition of "professional" programs grants ten fields, including law and medicine, a $200,000 cap while other graduate programs, including nursing, fall under a $100,000 cap. Healthcare stakeholders warned that tighter caps could reduce funding for nursing education and worsen workforce shortages. Department data and College Scorecard analysis show most post-graduate nursing students borrow below the proposed caps. A conservative analyst noted the caps will affect mainly a small number of high-cost programs, citing median debt figures for many nursing programs below $100,000.

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