Court halts loan caps on some grad degrees. What does it mean for you?

A Department of Education (ED) change to the definition of who's considered "professional" may be on pause, but borrowers shouldn't get too comfortable, education experts say.

A federal judge said late on June 25 that the department's narrowing of the definition of what a "professional" degree is to determine who's eligible for higher student loan limits was likely not allowed without a change from Congress.

The Department of Education's changes meant only 11 degrees made the cut for federal student loan limits of $50,000 annually and $200,000 over a lifetime. Many people quickly balked that degrees such as nursing, accounting, architecture and physical therapy were excluded and confined to loan limits of $20,500 annually and $100,000 over a lifetime.

While the judge's ruling temporarily blocked the use of the new definition, borrowers should shut out the noise for now, experts said. Families should continue as planned because broader, sweeping student loan changes set for July 1 are still happening.

The court pause makes eligibility for higher loan caps "temporarily uncertain until further guidance is issued," said Stacey MacPhetres, senior director of education finance at Bright Horizons. "While the guidance is unclear, it appears institutions may continue to rely on the prior definition of professional degree unless or until the court rules otherwise. Given the timing, students should proceed as planned for the upcoming academic year."

What loan changes are coming on July 1?

No matter how a "professional" degree is ultimately defined, changes in federal student loans will still be effective July 1 for new borrowers, experts say. They include:

• New federal borrowing caps: Graduate student loans will be capped at $20,500 annually with a lifetime limit of $100,000; professional students have a $50,000 annual cap and lifetime limit of $200,000; combined graduate and professional degree lifetime limit is $257,500; Parent PLUS loans are capped at $20,000 per student, per year with a lifetime limit of $65,000 per dependent student.
• Graduate PLUS loans end. These loans allowed borrowing up to the full cost of attendance.

Why are people upset about the 'professional' tag?

Schooling for occupations like nursing, accounting and physician associates could cost more than what's allowed for borrowing under the lower graduate, non-"professional" loan caps, experts said.

"The challenge for many graduate students is that their degree cost is likely to exceed these caps, necessitating private student loan borrowing in addition to federal student loans," said Jennifer Finetti, director of student advocacy at ScholarshipOwl. "This is particularly true for graduate degrees in health care, because numerous programs are master's degrees rather than doctoral programs."

When will the final 'professional' definition be decided?

The final say on what degrees qualify as "professional" may take a while, experts said.

"Both (the Department of Education) and the plaintiffs must propose a schedule for further court proceedings by July 2, and the stay will remain in place until the case is fully resolved, whenever that occurs," said National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators in a blog post.

Meantime, "this order allows ED to enforce the statutory professional degree definition and loan caps," a Department spokesperson said in an email. "ED is reviewing the order and will take appropriate action."

Organizations that filed suit in May still welcomed the temporary halt.

"This is an important step for nurse practitioner students, as well as the future health care workforce and the patients who depend on them for access to care," Valerie Fuller, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, one of the plaintiff organizations, said in a statement. "We are pleased the court recognized the serious legal concerns raised by this rule."

The American Academy of Physician Associates and the PA Education Association, who were included in the order, said, "While today's decision is significant/encouraging, it is only the first step. Our focus remains squarely on seeing this challenge to the PA profession through to a final resolution."

They added that they remained "confident in the merits of our case and committed to ensuring that PA students receive the higher loan limits Congress intended under the law."

(Updates with ED's response.)

Medora Lee is a money, markets and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Unlimited Use: Court halts loan caps on some grad degrees. What does it mean for you?

Reporting by Medora Lee, USA TODAY / USA TODAY Unlimited Use

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This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 5:01 PM.