{"id":744,"date":"2026-05-19T22:34:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=744"},"modified":"2026-05-19T22:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:34:28","slug":"health-worker-shortage-will-worsen-with-federal-loan-limit-25-states-say-in-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=744","title":{"rendered":"Health worker shortage will worsen with federal loan limit, 25 states say in suit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A coalition of 25 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia sued the Education Department on Tuesday over new graduate student loan limits, arguing the restrictions will worsen the health care workforce shortage.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cHigher education is expensive, and our health care system is already under immense strain. This rule will shut talented people out of critical professions and leave communities with fewer health care providers they desperately need,\u201d New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is co-leading the coalition with Maryland, Nevada, and Colorado, said in a statement. (Massachusetts is also included, along with Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, and Connecticut.)<\/span><\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Maryland, comes nearly three weeks after the Education Department finalized rules that lower the amount of money graduate students can borrow from the federal government. The rules, which take effect July 1, are a feature of the One Big Beautiful Bill that President Trump signed into law last summer. They implement borrowing caps based on whether students are pursuing a degree in what is designated as a professional or graduate program.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Students in professional programs can borrow up to $50,000 a year and $200,000 total, while those in graduate programs will face annual limits of $20,500 and a lifetime limit of $100,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

The law listed examples of professional programs, including pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, and theology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before now, all graduate students could borrow up to the full cost of attendance, which conservative lawmakers blamed for high program costs and high student debt.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the fall, the Education Department and a committee of higher education experts negotiated the details of the loan caps, but the terms sparked a backlash over the exclusion of some professions from the higher loan limits, including nursing, physical therapy, and social work. The department received more than 80,000 comments on the proposed rule, with many industry groups challenging the professional designation and warning that students would be shut out of critical fields.<\/span><\/p>\n

Professional degrees are not limited to the list, the regulation says, but the Education Department held fast to the examples \u2014 only agreeing to add clinical psychology after intense debate with experts. The Education Department refused to further expand the list of degrees deemed professional in the final rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the lawsuit, the states claim the department exceeded its authority with an arbitrary definition of \u201cprofessional degree\u201d that Congress never envisioned.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe department heavily relied on \u2018its own historical practice\u2019 in defining \u2018professional degrees\u2019 \u2026 <\/i>as well as whether a worker was \u2018supervised by another professional who has \u2026 more education, training, and qualifications,\u2019 \u2026 neither of which Congress intended it to consider,” the legal complaint states.<\/span><\/p>\n

The coalition of states fears the rules will force many students to rely on more expensive private loans, delay completing their education or abandon their pursuit of an advanced degree altogether. The group worries the rules will worsen workforce shortages and make it harder for patients, especially those in rural and underserved communities, to access health care. The states are asking the court to block the rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In a joint statement, the American Academy of Physician Associates and the PA Education Association said: \u201cWe welcome today\u2019s legal challenge and will continue leading this fight until this harmful rule is overturned and future health care providers are treated fairly under the law.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Education Undersecretary Nicholas Kent criticized the coalition\u2019s opposition to what he said are \u201ccommonsense loan caps\u201d that incentivize colleges and universities to lower tuition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, Democrats parroted illegal loan forgiveness to \u2018end the debt crisis\u2019 and buy votes, and now the same people are fighting against the Trump Administration\u2019s legal efforts to drive down the cost of college,\u201d Kent said in a statement. \u201cClearly, these Democratic governors, and attorneys general are more concerned about institutions\u2019 bottom line rather than American students and families\u2019 ability to access affordable postsecondary education.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When the department drafted the rules, it primarily relied on the text of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which defines a professional student based on a federal classification from the 1970s. A degree is considered \u201cprofessional\u201d under that classification if the field requires skills beyond those needed to receive a bachelor\u2019s degree, and licensure is generally required \u2014 terms that could describe a range of professions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nursing groups have been among the most vocal critics of the \u201cprofessional\u201d definition, arguing that the restrictions could shrink the pool of people who pursue the degrees needed to teach the next generation of nurses. The Education Department has said 95 percent of nursing students borrow below the annual limit and would not be affected by the new caps.<\/span><\/p>\n

Education Secretary Linda McMahon referenced that data point during a House Education Committee hearing this month, when Democrats and a few Republicans raised concerns that the graduate loan limits will exacerbate the shortage of health care workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our overall goal to bring down the cost of college and education,\u201d McMahon said, after Representative Randy Fine (R-Florida) questioned the potential impact of the loan caps on workforce shortages. \u201cAnd I do think that, relative to the shortages we\u2019re having, if we can bring down the cost for nurses in schools, we can get more students to apply.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

McMahon noted that a handful of colleges have reduced their graduate program prices in response to the loan limits, but Democratic lawmakers pointed out that the list is short and does not include nursing degrees.<\/span><\/p>\n

A group of Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate is seeking to overturn the student loan rules through the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to overturn recent regulatory actions of federal agencies with a simple majority vote in both chambers. Their campaign will be an uphill battle with Republicans, who championed the spending bill and control the House and Senate.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The lawsuit comes nearly three weeks after the Education Department finalized rules that lower the amount of money graduate students can borrow from the federal government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nHealth worker shortage will worsen with federal loan limit, 25 states say in suit - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=744\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health worker shortage will worsen with federal loan limit, 25 states say in suit - 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