On Nov. 6, the U.S. Department of Education released a proposal that would no longer consider fields such as nursing, education, architecture, and social work as “professional degrees” for federal student loan purposes. Under the change, students in these non-professional graduate programs will face maximum loan limits, which will take effect for new borrowers beginning July 1, 2026.
Senior Alexia Thompson, who has known she wants to be a nurse since her sophomore year, said the new limits may affect her career pursuit.
“College and school is expensive. I’m pretty lucky because I’ve had savings for college for a while, and I do have a job. But it probably will impact me,” Thompson said. “Nursing is a profession that we always have a need for, and there’s always nursing shortages, so this is kind of counterproductive.”
Signed on July 4, the Trump-backed “One Big Beautiful Bill” replaced existing federal student loan repayment plans with two options: a standard plan with fixed payments for 10 to 25 years, or an income-driven plan called the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). RAP requires borrowers to pay 1 to 10% of their income each month for up to 30 years. Loans are capped at $20,500 for non-professional students and $50,000 for professional students.
According to Forbes, the Department of Education plans to post the proposed rule in early 2026, when the public will have at least thirty days to comment on it.
With some fields now considered non-professional, students in those professions will receive a lower annual loan limit under RAP, which could make it more difficult to pursue high-demand careers. Nurse.com, an online career resource for aspiring and qualified nurses, said that by potentially limiting affordable graduate education, the reclassification could lead to fewer qualified candidates seeking advanced practice roles.
This change comes as tuition for colleges continues to rise. According to a report from NPR, the average inflation-adjusted tuition at both public and private colleges has doubled.
“I’ve been here for ten years. If anything, the prices are going one direction for college,” College and Financial Aid Advisor Jonathon Dhyne said. “It feels very silly to take all these very challenging careers and label them as [non-professional].”
While the Department of Education anticipates that the new loan limits will lower the cost of graduate programs, Dhyne said he is skeptical that college prices will decrease.
“It will just make you have to be more creative in terms of finding ways to pay for it,” Dhyne said. “If your federal loans are limited, you have to go to a bank and start taking out private loans. I think paying for college is a big enough barrier.”
The changes to loan limits also raise concerns about diversity in certain fields. Senior Francesca Caban, who took architecture in her freshman and sophomore years, is now the president of the Architecture Club. Given the white male dominance in architecture, making up 62% of architects according to NCARB, Caban said she is concerned about the RAP’s diversity implications.
“Architecture is already dominated by a pretty predominantly white male type of person, and that’s just, historically, the type of people that have more money and easier success rates, just because of inherent factors from history,” Caban said. “I think that in the future, all job markets and society is trying to move away from that. I think that this is doing the opposite, because it leaves people who are already able to pay for school and their opportunities, which I think is a really backwards step.”
Caban also noted the RAP’s potential impact on schools, referring to architecture teacher Anna Liu as an example
“Liu — we’re so lucky to have a teacher like her who has professional experience. I think that would drop in rates, which I can imagine affecting programs,” Caban said.
The impact also extends to education. Biology teacher Karen Hartmann said some of her students are interested in becoming physicians, nurses, or audiologists. Although the RAP primarily affects loan limits, Hartmann said she is concerned about how listing these fields as “non-professional” might influence perception.
“If they’re not going to classify them as professional degrees, even though it’s a classification like a naming difference, I still feel like there might be a different perception eventually of these professions,” Hartmann said.
Hartmann also noted the emphasis placed on education in other areas of the world.
“I’m a little upset to hear that because I feel like teaching is definitely considered a professional degree that is super important, because if there were no teachers, then how can our future society advance?” Hartmann said.
California public schools are among the most severe of teacher shortages nationally. According to USA Today, California is ranked 48th out of the 50 states for its student-to-teacher ratio in public schools, with a ratio of 45.74 teachers for every 1000 students.
“I feel like with this bill, it’s presenting another challenge, another layer on top, because it’s already challenging to find people that are passionate about teaching and want to do it for the right reasons,” Hartmann said. “And now it’s like this other layer of this loan cap that might financially prevent people from wanting to pursue it.”
Despite the RAP’s intent to lower tuition, Hartmann said she does not expect college fees to decrease in the future.
“When I think forward to the future, just paying for my kids in 15 years from now, I’m already anticipating the high costs due to inflation and whatnot, and increasing tuition through the years,” Hartmann said. “So it’s definitely going to keep rising. I don’t see it going down.”
