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But also declines to eliminate the graduate loan caps altogether
Proponents of eliminating all caps on taxpayer subsidized student loans won a minor victory last week, when a federal judge issued a stay on the pending limits.
Effective July 1, graduate students can borrow $20,500 per year unless they are in a “professional” degree program, in which case they can borrow up to $50,000 per year. The Department of Education classified certain programs as “professional” such as medicine or dentistry.
This classification drew pushback, and legal challenges, as it excluded graduate nursing programs.
Last Wednesday, a judge ruled that the way the Trump administration determined who was subject to the limits violated the Administrative Procedure Act. However, Judge Beryl Howell declined to get rid of all of the limits, saying that it was within Congress’ authority to pass laws.
Furthermore, the Obama appointee left the door open for the Trump administration to still exclude some programs from the higher loan limits.
An analysis from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators concluded:
The decision, which applies nationally, temporarily reverts to the current three-part standard for professional degree programs at [the currentl regulation] until the court issues a final decision on the full merits of the case.
Under that standard, a professional degree is one that signifies completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor’s degree, generally requires professional licensure, and includes (but is not limited to) the ten fields of study listed in the regulation.
The ruling is the latest part of an ongoing battle over the limits. The stay only temporarily blocks the limits, and the Department of Education can appeall the ruling.
Critics of the regulation were quick to accuse the Trump administration of not respecting nurses.
On the other hand, American Enterprise Institute economist Preston Cooper explained the loan limits applied to only a few expensive nursing programs.
He wrote last November:
It should be no surprise that the dean of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania called the new limits “an affront to the nation’s most trusted profession” in a statement to Newsweek. Graduates of Penn’s advanced nursing programs rack up $168,000 in student debt—more than twice the national average for similar programs. Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to subsidize Penn’s program through federal student loans when dozens of lower-cost options exist.
Meanwhile, several schools have appeared to bring down their own tuition in response to the annual and lifetime borrowing limits.
Recently, the University of California Irvine announced it lowered its MBA tuition to avoid the new federal loan caps, as The College Fix reported.
MORE: Trump admin caught $150 million in fraudulent student loans the past few months
