Get The Gavel
A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr.
The new law distinguishes between “professional” and “graduate” degrees. Professional degrees are defined by 11 categories, among them law, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, clinical psychology, and theology. Students in professional programs can borrow up to $50,000 a year in federal loans, with a lifetime cap of $200,000. For all other graduate degrees, borrowers are capped at $20,500 a year, with a lifetime limit of $100,000.
The definition of professional programs proposed by the DOE, however, would exclude many categories of programs that train students to obtain professional licenses, many in health care fields where workers are badly needed. These include physician assistants, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, and social workers, among others.
These programs may be less expensive than medical school — but they’re not cheap. An analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that 12 percent of all master’s students nationally took out federal loans above the new limits, and those students needed to borrow, on average, $16,000 beyond the cap. Doctoral students were less likely than master’s students to need federal loans, but among those who did borrow, nearly half exceeded the proposed cap. Students entering the health and legal professions needed to borrow the most money, with 39 percent of students in health-related professional programs borrowing on average $28,500 more than would be allowed by the cap.
In a letter to the DOE, Massachusetts’ Commissioner of Higher Education Noe Ortega wrote that approximately 13,000 Massachusetts graduate students have financial need above the level of borrowing allowed under the new rule. Ortega warned that these students will have to seek more expensive, riskier financing in the private loan market. An estimated 4,000 students are unlikely to qualify for private loans, Ortega wrote, which could lead them to forgo graduate programs entirely.
As Ortega points out, if students can’t attend graduate school in areas like nursing, that could make it harder for patients to get care. The Globe has reported that the cap will likely make it harder to fill nursing positions in a field that’s already experiencing worker shortages. Massachusetts nurses have long complained of understaffing. According to the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, Massachusetts hospitals reported vacancy rates around 15 percent in 2024 for masters-level social work and physician assistants jobs — both are positions that require graduate degrees.
Rebecca Gewirtz, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers’ Massachusetts chapter, said there are already waiting lists for those seeking mental health care provided by social workers. And the association has been trying to diversify the profession, which means reaching people in lower-income communities who rely on loans to attend school. While tuition can vary widely, a two-year masters of social work program costs more than $93,000 at Boston College and $77,000 at Simmons University just for tuition, not counting the cost of housing, books, and other expenses. “I think if this rule becomes final, it will further exacerbate the mental health care shortage we have in this state,” Gewirtz said.
At William James College in Newton, which trains mental health professionals, President Nicholas Covino said it can cost more than $200,000 to earn a doctoral or even a master’s degree, between tuition, fees, and living expenses. Because mental health professionals are in demand, Covino said virtually every graduate finds work and repays their loans. Some enter public service — working for state government or community mental health centers — because it makes them eligible for federal loan forgiveness. Covino worries that if fewer federal loans are available, some people won’t be able to afford graduate school, while those who can afford it will be less likely to go into public service. “The real issue isn’t that it will drive the cost [of education] down, the real issue is it will drive the students you’d like to have away,” Covino told the editorial board.
Ortega, in his letter to the DOE, suggested that a better rule would define professional programs “as those linked to objectively-defined high-need, high-value occupational fields, such as nursing, social work and education.”
Alternatively, the rule could define professional programs as those that require professional licensure, a definition the federal government uses elsewhere. Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York introduced legislation to broaden the definition to include specific professions like nursing, physical therapy, architecture, accounting, and special education.
If, facing federal pressure, schools lower their tuition and students require fewer loans, that would be a good thing. But the proposed rule is more likely to push students into obtaining riskier private loans or forgoing programs in high-needs professions like health care. In response to the thousands of comments it received, the DOE should revise the rule by broadening the definition of professional degrees.
Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us @GlobeOpinion.