How Trump’s New Student-Loan Changes Could Impact Professional Degrees

The Trump administration’s plan to redefine what constitutes a professional degree would exclude nursing and limit access to student loans — outraging national health care groups and leaving nursing students questioning how they will pay for graduate degrees.
Previously, graduate students could borrow federal loans up to the cost of their degree, but under the new proposal, there would be caps on loans based on whether students are enrolled in a program that is considered professional or not.
The change stems from President Donald Trump’s “one big beautiful bill,” the U.S. Department of Education said in a Nov. 6 news release. Students in graduate programs will now be capped at $20,500 per year with a lifetime limit of $100,000.
For students seeking a professional degree, loan limits are higher, at $50,000 per year, with a lifetime limit of $200,000, the news release states. The Education Department’s list of professional degrees includes pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry and theology.
Undergraduate students will not be affected by the new lending limits.
The American Nurses Association quickly sounded the alarm on leaving nursing out the proposal, saying it will “severely restrict access to critical funding” for students who wish to seek an advanced nursing degree.
The new student loan caps take effect in July 2026.
What is a professional degree?
The Education Department said it uses the term