States sue over new student loan limits on certain nursing and healthcare degrees

"A coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday challenging a Trump administration rule that limits access to federal student loans for borrowers earning a graduate degree in several popular, healthcare-related fields. "Higher education is expensive, and our health care system is already under immense strain," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. "This rule will shut talented people out of critical professions and leave communities with fewer health care providers they desperately need.""

"At issue is a pair of complex changes that, taken together, drew the ire of the American Nurses Association and triggered Tuesday's lawsuit. First, Republicans passed new limits on graduate student loans as part of last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The law does not change limits for undergraduate borrowers, including those attending undergraduate nursing programs, but it dramatically scales back how much graduate students can borrow. Previously, grad students could borrow up to the cost of their program, but the new limits cap annual borrowing for most at $20,500 with a total limit of $100,000."

"These limits are legal, if controversial. Arizona, California, North Carolina, Kentucky and Nevada are among the states that joined the lawsuit, which focuses on a rule that essentially outlines an exemption to the limits. In implementing the changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Trump administration has scaled back the types of graduate degrees that qualify as "professional" and for which students can borrow up to $50,000 a year and $200,000 overall. It is limiting those exempted programs to 11 categories: chiropractic, clinical psychology, dentistry, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, podiatry, theology and veterinary medicine."

"Nursing, physical therapy and nurse anesthesia are some of the many healthcare-related programs excluded from that short list of"

A coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Trump administration rule that limits federal student loan access for borrowers earning graduate degrees in several healthcare-related fields. The rule targets changes that reduce graduate borrowing amounts and narrow which graduate degrees qualify for higher loan exemptions. New limits cap most graduate students’ annual borrowing at $20,500 and total borrowing at $100,000, down from prior limits tied to program cost. The administration also scaled back the types of degrees treated as “professional,” restricting exemptions to 11 categories, excluding nursing, physical therapy, and nurse anesthesia. The lawsuit argues the rule will reduce access to critical healthcare professions and worsen provider shortages.

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