Court Rejects ED's Narrow 'Professional' Degree Rule for Student-Loan Caps
A federal judge in the District of Columbia voided the Education Department’s rule that narrowly defined 'professional' degrees for higher loan borrowing caps under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, saying Congress intended the statutory definition to govern and that ED’s extra eligibility criteria went beyond what law requires. The ED had limited higher loan eligibility to 11 programs (e.g., pharmacy, dentistry, law, medicine, etc.), excluding others from the higher caps. Howell stayed the rule pending further litigation; the ED is reviewing the ruling and has not indicated whether it will appeal. The decision creates uncertainty about which programs qualify as 'professional' and could impact funding for advanced healthcare and other fields.