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Critics say degrees left out of this new definition will make them more expensive for students who need loans to pay for their education.
WASHINGTON — Dr. Yolanda Ogbolu, who serves as the Dean of Nursing at the University of Maryland, says she’s concerned about a new proposal from the Department of Education.
The proposal rewrites caps on how much college students can borrow while they’re studying, but the proposal follows a much stricter definition of what a professional degree is, meaning some degrees could get more expensive for prospective students.
Under the new proposal, annual loans for new borrowers are capped at $50,000 a year for students studying professional degrees, and only $20,500 for everyone else.
Overall, professional students could borrow up to $200,000.
Everyone else? Just $100,000.
The American Council on Education (ACE) says this may put even more stress on low-income students.
“You’re kind of creating this situation where you want to work on college costs and reducing that to increase affordability, but at the same time, you could be arguably increasing college costs for the very students that need it to be more affordable in whatever way,” explains Dr. Emmanual A Guillory, ACE Senior Director of Government Relations.
Since this new classification wouldn’t go into effect until July 2026, it wouldn’t affect those who are currently enrolled.
If the proposal is adopted, any student in a program by June 30, 2026, will remain under the old rules.
However, Dr. Ogbolu says this could also keep valuable people out of fields that already have too few workers.
“Without access to student loans at the highest level, I believe a nursing shortage that is already hanging on a cliff, could easily be worsened,” she said.
Many educators are also concerned.
The Learning Policy Institute put out data in July that says 48 states reported shortages for special education teachers last school year.
35 states reported shortages for World Languages teachers.
Now Dr. Ogbolu warns that those who want to take on these roles may be priced out when they’re needed more than ever.
“We have an aging population, we have nurses that are retiring, and you have people that want to do it,” Ogbolu said. “They need support to be able to be able to receive their education at the highest level.”
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