A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland challenges part of the upcoming overhaul of the federal student loan system that imposes stricter loan caps on students enrolled in postbaccalaureate degree programs that do not fall under the department’s “vocational” classification. (Photo by Courtney K/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — A coalition of Democratic attorneys general and governors sued the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday about upcoming regulations This will introduce modern credit limits for students in certain postgraduate courses.
The suit – filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland – challenges part of the upcoming overhaul of the federal student loan system that imposes stricter loan caps on participating students Postbaccalaureate degree programs that do not fall under the department’s “professional” classification, such as: B. Nursing, teaching and social work.
The department has published final regulations May 1stthat are implementing the student loan overhaul outlined in the congressional Republicans’ mega tax and spending cuts bill signed by President Donald Trump last year. Most student loan regulations come into effect on July 1st.
The upcoming regulations will eliminate the Grad PLUS program, which allowed graduate students and working professionals to take out loans up to the full cost of attendance.
Graduate loans have an annual limit of $20,500 and an aggregate limit of $100,000. Professional student loans have an annual limit of $50,000 and an aggregate limit of $200,000.
However, programs that fall under the department’s “professional” category – and therefore qualify for the higher credit limit – are confined to pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, theology and clinical psychology.
Controversial definition of “professional qualification”.
The states allege that the department “unlawfully changed” the definition of “professional degree” “by adding new requirements and limiting eligibility in ways that Congress had never authorized,” according to a Press release regarding the lawsuit.
The states also argue that the “professional degree” definition will harm them by “cutting funding for many state colleges and harming states’ ability to meet critical workforce needs and provide services to their residents.”
The states also claim that the regulations would threaten their “ability to meet critical workforce needs, particularly in health care” and that the upcoming reduced loan limits “will likely result in students graduating with more debt, discouraging them from finding less rewarding jobs in rural areas or in the classroom.”
In addition to the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, the lawsuit also included attorneys general in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Administration defends credit caps
Education Undersecretary Nicholas Kent said in a statement shared with States Newsroom that “after decades of uncontrolled student loan borrowing that gave schools no reason to control costs, these common-sense loan caps – created by Congress – are already incentivizing colleges and universities to lower tuition costs.”
“These Democratic governors and attorneys general are clearly more concerned about the institutions’ bottom lines than the ability of American students and families to access affordable postsecondary education,” Kent added.
