Jessica Blake
July 9, 2026
Several health-care degrees like advanced nursing, physician assistants and occupational therapists were added, but others, like master’s in social work and education, were not.
More than a week after the Department of Education expanded the list of degree programs eligible for higher loan limits after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act took effect on July 1, several trade associations and legal experts say the latest expansion is not enough.
The expanded list followed a federal district court order that temporarily stayed the department’s more narrow definition. Now ED has deemed 29 programs professional, up from 11—including health-care fields like nursing and physician assistantship (both of which had trade associations that sued the department over its definition). Other degrees for careers in education, social work, accounting and architecture still did not make the cut.