On Nov. 6, the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee concluded, reaching a consensus on changes to student loan limits, professional degree classifications, and repayment provisions.
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) proposed changing the definition of a professional degree as part of implementing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). The new definition will determine which degree programs will receive a higher loan cap, ultimately reshaping how future graduate and professional students will finance their education.
The RISE committee met in two separate sessions, one in September and one in November, to set new limits on future student loan borrowing and the repayment system. Participants included the ED federal negotiator, Office of General Counsel, legal counsel, non-federal primary and alternate negotiators, and a facilitator.
Starting on July 1, 2026, loan borrowers will have access to a new income-driven repayment plan called the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), which requires fixed monthly payments based on the total amount owed. The plan aims to create a simple and manageable payment option for graduate and professional students with a single standardized system.
Students with loans before July 1, 2026, will retain access to the standard, graduated, and extended repayment plans, which are non-income-based. Students taking out a loan after July 1, 2026, will only have access to the RAP loan.
Graduate student borrowing will be capped at $20,500 a year with a $100,000 aggregate borrowing limit, and professional student borrowing will be capped at $50,000 a year with a $200,000 aggregate limit. The Graduate PLUS loan program will be eliminated, which previously allowed students to borrow loans up to the cost of attendance.
Under the final consensus, only certain degrees will qualify as a professional degree based on the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code. ED has decided that the following degrees were professional: pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, law, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, chiropractic, theology, and veterinary medicine. The new proposal has excluded degrees such as social work, nursing, physical therapy, education, public health, and business.
Programs with the same four-digit CIP code could also be considered a professional degree. Additionally, the ED proposed that all professional degrees must include the completion of academic requirements beyond a bachelor’s degree needed for entry-level practice in the field. The degree must be at the doctoral level, include six years of post-secondary education coursework, and require licensure for employment.
ED has indicated that the new definition is intended to match high loan caps with degrees that have high expected earnings and require extensive field training. The goal is to reduce the risk of excessive debt in lower-earning programs.
Many advocacy groups and students have expressed concerns over the narrow definition and program affordability. Groups warn that excluding many health professions, such as social work and nursing, could lead to severe impacts on the health care workforce.
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) expressed, “Excluding social work from professional degree eligibility, combined with the OBBBA’s proposed elimination of Graduate PLUS loans, could make it more difficult for students to pursue graduate education in critical service professions.”
CSWE cautioned that this decision might result in a shortage of resources from social workers, as the demand for mental health workers and services continues to increase. CSWE will continue to advocate and meet with members of Congress to ensure all students have the opportunity to pursue affordable graduate programs in social work and critical service professions.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) also voiced concerns about undermining the value of nursing education and decades of providing high-quality patient care across the country. Due to the current nursing shortage, the ANA is concerned about people in rural and underserved communities lacking access to quality health care resources without adequate funding for nursing education.
The ANA is committed to empowering nursing excellence through legislative and policy advocacy and continues to urge the ED to recognize the importance of loan programs for future nurses.
“ANA encourages the Department to engage with nursing stakeholders and revise the ‘professional degree’ definition to explicitly include nursing education pathways,” stated ANA in a statement addressed to the ED.
As the ED prepares to finalize these regulations in early 2026, advocacy groups and the public will have a chance to express their comments. Future graduate students can anticipate changes in federal support, financial accessibility, and professional recognition for various programs. These factors could significantly influence students’ decisions to pursue a postgraduate degree at all.
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