Students in some professional degree programs will find that they are – at least for now – eligible to borrow the higher federal student loan limits, while others will find that their program is no longer on the approved list.
A recent June 24 court case preliminarily stayed part of the Department of Education’s professional degree definition as published in a May 1 Federal Register Final Rule.
In a June 29 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education said they are confident that the professional degree definition published on May 1 is lawful and they will continue to defend it. However, based on the Court Order, they have updated the list of professional degree programs, which may change as the litigation continues.
Schools with graduate level professional degree programs will want to consult the comprehensive announcement to review the following information:
- Interim List of Programs Treated as Granting Professional Degrees as a Result of Court Order for the Duration of the Court’s Stay
- Programs NOT Treated as Programs Granting Professional Degrees as a Result of Court Order for the Duration of the Court’s Stay and Based on the Court’s Order
Please note that these lists are different from the provision provided in the May 1 Final Rule.
In the announcement, the Department suggested that schools may wish to consider, for programs now temporarily classified as awarding professional degrees, limiting loan amounts to the graduate-level caps to avoid potential disruption to student borrowers resulting from changes in program classification that may occur from the Court Order.
The Department is providing information for students and borrowers about the preliminary Court Order on the following pages:
- StudentAid.gov/bigupdates – This page provides information about changes affecting recipients of federal student aid, including borrowers.
- A related definitions and key terms page – This page provides the definitions for important terms and concepts affecting recipients of federal student aid, including borrowers.
