Judge Temporarily Blocks Narrower Professional-Degree Rule for Nurse Practitioner Loans

U.S. ” The 52-page opinion sided with a coalition of healthcare groups that includes the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the PA Education Association. The ruling prevents the department from applying its new definition while litigation continues.

It does not restore the eliminated Grad PLUS loan program or alter the statutory loan caps enacted by Congress. Those caps, part of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed on a party-line vote in summer 2025, limit most graduate students to $20,500 per year and $100,000 total. Programs classified as professional degrees allow borrowing up to $50,000 annually and $200,000 overall.

The department’s definition required programs to be generally at the doctoral level, span at least six years of postsecondary education, and prepare graduates for independent practice without supervision. Howell found that the department had used the supervision criterion to exclude nurse practitioner and physician assistant programs, even though the agency had acknowledged during rulemaking that master’s and doctoral nursing programs can meet the statutory three-part test.

The new limits were set to take effect July 1, 2026.

Sarah Szanton, dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, said the $20,500 annual cap was unworkable for living expenses and tuition. She added that nurse practitioners and physician assistants together provide about 25 percent of primary care in the United States.

Antonia Villarruel, dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, called the temporary order an important step toward equitable access to financing for advanced nursing education.