Overview
- A coalition of state attorneys general representing about two dozen states plus the District of Columbia and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania filed the lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday, asking a judge to stop the Education Department’s April 30 rule.
- The rule reclassifies many advanced healthcare programs — including nurse practitioner, physician assistant, physical therapy, and several doctoral-entry training tracks — as 'graduate' rather than 'professional,' which would subject those students to lower federal borrowing caps.
- Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, graduate students face $20,500 per year and $100,000 aggregate loan limits while professional students can borrow up to $50,000 per year and $200,000 aggregate, and the plaintiffs say the department unlawfully narrowed the law’s illustrative list of professional programs.
- The complaint also challenges the department’s tightening of the statute’s grandfathering protections, saying students who transfer or temporarily withdraw and later re-enroll could lose prior loan protections they expected to keep.
- The Education Department defends the rule as implementing congressional caps and says limits will pressure schools to lower tuition, while states and health groups warn the change could push students to costlier private loans and worsen workforce shortages in rural and underserved areas.