Federal judges recently blocked two U.S. Department of Education student loan rules impacting graduate and professional degree borrowing limits and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
On June 25, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Department’s revised definition of “professional degree” in its May 2026 student loan final rule, which implements provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21). The rule established aggregate federal student loan borrowing caps of $100,000 for graduate degrees and $200,000 for professional degrees but limited the higher cap to fields such as medicine, dentistry and law, prompting suit by excluded professions. Following the stay, the Department issued updated guidance and a revised list of programs temporarily eligible for higher professional degree loan limits, while litigation proceeds. The remainder of the rule took effect July 1. The ADA has published a Student Loan Resource Guide to help dentists and dental students understand the impact of the Department’s final student loan rule.
Separately, two federal judges on July 1 blocked a final rule affecting the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The rule would have allowed the Department to deny loan forgiveness to borrowers employed by organizations deemed to have a “substantial illegal purpose.” AAOMS and other dental groups previously submitted comments urging the Department to maintain borrower eligibility and due process.
