Attorney General Bonta Opposes Trump Administration Proposal to Exclude Healthcare Professionals from Necessary Student Loans

 Proposal will discourage potential healthcare workers from entering the field at a critical time when more professionals with these skills are needed

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general and the Governors of Kansas and Kentucky in sending a comment letter to the U.S. Department of Education opposing its proposed rule to change the definition of a “professional degree” for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. In the letter, the coalition opposes the new definition, which would exclude students seeking graduate degrees in nursing, physician assistant studies, physical therapy, and other health professions from eligibility for higher student loan borrowing limits. This change would make it harder for these vital healthcare workers to pursue advanced degrees, threatening the operations of healthcare systems in California and across the country.

“Advanced practice nurses, physical therapists, physician assistants, and other healthcare professionals with graduate-level training are vital to keeping our healthcare system running and our citizens healthy — especially in rural and underserved areas. The Trump Administration is attempting to exclude students from accessing loans in order to obtain the professional degrees necessary to do this critical work. This is not only arbitrary and illegal, but also threatens to drastically reduce the ability of patients to access adequate medical care,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Across the nation, healthcare systems are drowning, often lacking sufficient numbers of physicians to meet the needs of their communities. Nurses, physician assistants, and other health professionals have helped fill this gap and provide the medical care that their patients need. I urge the Trump Administration to reverse course — this proposed rule will only exacerbate the ongoing healthcare accessibility crisis."

BACKGROUND

In July 2025, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which, in part, establishes annual and aggregate borrowing limits for federal student loans. It distinguishes between “graduate students” and “professional students” for the purposes of establishing the annual and aggregate loan limits. Prior to enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, students could borrow up to the full cost of attendance of a graduate program, regardless of whether it was considered a “graduate” or “professional” program. Under the statute, graduate students now have a $20,500 annual and $100,000 aggregate cap for borrowing, while “professional” students have a $50,000 annual and $200,000 aggregate cap.

Health professionals with advanced training through master’s or doctoral programs play critical roles in the U.S. healthcare system. The advanced training they receive allows them to fulfill specialized, vital roles in the healthcare process. Advance practice nurses with professional degrees for example, provide essential, high-quality care to their patients, and they often do it in underserved, rural communities. Nurses, physician assistants, and other graduate health professionals can fill healthcare gaps by, among many other things, seeing patients, prescribing medication, and manning helplines. They are essential in fields that attract too few doctors because of relatively low pay, like family medicine, as well as in subspecialties that require years of specific training. The change in definition will discourage potential healthcare workers from entering the field, at a critical time when more dedicated professionals in these roles are needed.

The proposed rule will reduce the number of health professionals available to treat patients in two ways. First, it will discourage students from seeking graduate degrees by making such degrees inaccessible or more expensive. Second, it will exacerbate the shortage of health professionals in teaching positions, which will affect universities’ capacity to train the next generation of providers.

In the letter, the coalition opposes the U.S. Department of Education’s new definition, arguing that the proposed rule:

• Is unlawful and goes against the clear statutory command of Congress, which provided a definition for what should be considered a “professional degree.”
• Is arbitrary and capricious in that it does not take into account the extreme need for workers like nurses and fails to explain why it uses an out-of-date definition instead of the broader one provided and intended by Congress.
• Will harm states nationwide. The proposed rule threatens to gut a vital element of the states’ healthcare systems, drastically reducing the ability of their residents — especially those in rural or underserved communities — to access adequate medical care.

In sending the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta is joined by the attorneys general of Maryland, Nevada, Colorado, New York, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the Governors of Kansas and Kentucky.