Education Department Rule Blocked as Health-Care Training Programs Challenge Degree Limits

Six days before a new federal loan rule was set to take effect, a federal judge blocked it, handing a win to physician associates and other health-care students who said the change would have priced many of them out of their education.

What You Should Know

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell granted preliminary relief on June 25, halting the Education Department’s narrowed definition of “professional degree” while litigation proceeds, according to a statement from the American Academy of Physician Associates. The department’s definition would have placed PA programs, along with nursing and other advanced-practice fields, into a lower “graduate” loan tier, capping annual federal borrowing at $20,500 instead of the $50,000 available to “professional” students under last year’s tax-and-spending law.

The System Under Pressure

Only 11 degrees, including optometry, dentistry, and theology, made the department’s cut for the higher “professional” tier, according to Bloomberg Government’s reporting. The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners pursued a parallel legal challenge and secured similar relief. Howell found the department exceeded its authority by adding criteria, including a doctoral-level requirement, that Congress had not written into the underlying law.

The Receipts

“By granting preliminary relief, the Court recognized that the harm caused by this rule is too significant to ignore,” AAPA and the PA Education Association said in a joint statement. Howell’s order specifically found the department made “five material changes” to the statutory definition without congressional direction, according to Bloomberg Government.

What Happens Next

The ruling pauses the rule while the underlying case proceeds, but AAPA called it “only the first step” toward a final resolution. Thousands of prospective PA students remain in limbo until the litigation concludes.

References: AAPA | Bloomberg Government