Court Order Expands Higher Grad-Loan Eligibility for Select Professions

A federal judge paused the Education Department’s narrowed definition of 'professional degree,' allowing more graduate programs to qualify for the higher $50,000 annual loan cap (up to $200,000 total) instead of the $20,500 cap for other grads; the updated list now includes more than 20 degrees, such as nursing, physician assistants, and speech-language pathology, though the list could still change and the caps themselves remain in place.