There will be a limitation on how much money you can borrow regardless of whether or not the degree is categorized as professional. Degrees that are no longer considered as professional will not be able to borrow nearly as much federal student loans, creating the risk of students needing private loans, which often include higher interest rates and fewer protection.
“For a lot of people their parents don’t help them pay for college, including myself,” senior Naomi Zarnighian said. “It’s not an easy thing for everyone as it might be for some.”
Degrees that are on the professional list such as law, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy will continue to be able to borrow from Grad PLUS and to borrow $50,000 annually as of July 2026, though it seems like an increase from borrowing $20,500 annually, future students enrolled will lose access to unlimited Grad PLUS, meaning they can no longer borrow unlimited amounts to cover the full amount of attendance, and will be set to a lifetime limit of $200,000. To accommodate these changes, some students who are financially dependent on unlimited Grad PLUS will have to either work more hours and rely on private loans.
“The loan limit is part of the cost, a factor I would be considering,” senior Serena Chen said. “If federal loans aren’t enough, I would most likely take out other loans, find scholarships, or get a part time job.”
Especially in fields such as health, that are already experiencing shortages in professionals, the exclusion of degrees such as graduate-level nursing, physical therapy and physician’s assistant programs could possibly create a barrier for some students to enter the fields due to new financial constraints, possibly prolonging the shortage in healthcare providers.
This policy change does not only affect upcoming students. Students currently enrolled in university could also face these changes or be grandfathered to the policy they enrolled with, though the exact rules to it differs across institutions.
Throughout these changes, there are still passionate students who stand confidently in the fields they plan on studying.
“This change hasn’t made me reconsider architecture,” senior Elan Isaacs said. “I still see tremendous potential in the field and believe it remains a meaningful and inspiring profession.”
The excluded fields include but are not limited to: nursing, physical therapy, social work, education, audiology, architecture and accounting.
Popular misunderstanding from students in excluded fields to the policy change is frustration and confusion with being deemed as unvalued. However, according to the Department of Education, the term “professional” is only an internally used term to organize qualification for higher loan limits between degrees and not a judgement of importance in the field.
Most of these policies are not yet entirely polished and are currently undergoing changes. Policies involved with tax breaks that are beneficial for employers and recently graduated workers are also being introduced. Under OBBBA, employer-paid student-loan help has become a permanent policy. The precise list of degrees that are professional or non-professional are not finalized yet and are still being worked on by the Department of Education, creating an opportunity for misinformation to spread online.
The way to tell whether or not a degree has changed is fairly simple. Using accredited sources can avoid misunderstandings or false information spread on the internet. Sources of the Department of Education is the first and most reliable authority to verify whether or not changes have been made to a degree.
Accreditation Agencies are another good source of information to verify the degree, as most professional degrees do not change without approval from government recognized agencies. If there was not an announcement made from university accreditors or program specific accreditors about the changes to the degree, then the information heard elsewhere is likely false.
Professional licensing boards are also a reliable source of information as changes to the degree can affect the requirements of getting certain licenses. To verify, check the rules in these boards to see if they have changed.
Sources such as TikTok or Reddit are not reliable sources and often spread misinformation without any accredited sources of information, it is important to verify any rumors trending online with actual sources.
