Student-loan borrowers face 'imminent' harm from Trump's plan to limit borrowing for advanced degrees, judge says

A federal judge has declared the Trump administration's plan to restrict student loan borrowing for advanced degrees an unconstitutional overreach of authority. This is the third ruling that has halted the administration's attempt to limit higher borrowing for 11 professional programs. US District Judge Michael Simon stated that students and colleges would face immediate harm and revenue loss from the caps.

The Department of Education had planned to implement the new rule on July 1, which would have set a $200,000 lifetime borrowing cap for 11 professional degrees, including dentistry and medicine, while limiting other advanced programs to a $100,000 cap. The department's proposed list of professional degrees faced opposition from lawmakers and advocates, who argued that some programs on the excluded list required higher borrowing caps to ensure adequate funding for students.

The ruling in Oregon, concerning the naturopathic medicine field, highlighted how the department's decision to exclude the field could push students towards private loans with higher interest rates and fewer federal forgiveness options. Judge Simon ruled that the harms caused by the caps were imminent, as students were deciding whether they could afford to enroll in the programs for the upcoming academic year.

He issued a preliminary injunction and ordered the department to include naturopathic medicine in the higher borrowing limit. The Department of Education responded by encouraging students to contact their schools to understand how the court ruling impacted them. In June, another court decision blocked the department's narrowed definition of a professional degree, forcing the department to release a revised list of 30 programs that would qualify for a higher borrowing limit.

The administration remains confident that the narrowed definition is lawful and intends to continue defending it.