"setting in motion significant changes in student borrowing rules that will have huge implications for students, institutions and the economy. Among the negotiated points were directives in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act designed to address the $1.8 trillion student debt crisis by canceling Grad PLUS loans-used by many students to pay for grad school-and putting caps on the amount of money students can borrow: $200,000 for professional degrees, capped at $50,000 annually, and $100,000 for graduate programs, limited to $20,500 a year."
"The most contentious debates in the negotiations were on which programs are considered "professional." Sector representatives pushed for high-demand health-care professions, such as physician assistants, nurse practitioners and audiologists, as well as programs in architecture, accounting, education and social work to all be considered professional and thus eligible for the higher borrowing limits. But the committee adopted a much narrower definition of "professional" programs, consisting of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, law, veterinary medicine, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, chiropractic, theology and clinical psychology."
Negotiated rulemaking introduced major changes to federal student borrowing limits and cancellation measures targeting graduate debt. The plan cancels Grad PLUS loans and establishes caps: $200,000 total for professional degrees (maximum $50,000 annually) and $100,000 total for graduate programs (maximum $20,500 annually). The caps focus on graduate borrowing because graduate students hold substantially higher average debt—about $89,270—versus $29,550 for undergraduates. Industry and higher-education representatives lobbied for broad definitions of professional programs, but the committee limited that category to a short list of specific professions. The caps do not account for wide tuition variation across programs and institutions.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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