WASHINGTON, D.C. — On June 24, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a stay blocking a new regulation from the U.S. Department of Education. The regulation had narrowed the definition of a professional degree for federal student loan borrowing limits.

The department issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on January 30, 2026, which proposed new regulations for defining what constitutes a profession for purposes of determining student loan borrowing amounts. On May 1, 2026, the department implemented a narrower definition for professional degrees in relation to student loan eligibility.

The department designated only specific degrees in eleven fields as professional degrees. These fields included Pharmacy (Pharm.D.), Dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.), Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.), Law (L.L.B. or J.D.), Medicine (M.D.), Optometry (O.D.), Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.), Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.), Theology (M.Div. or M.H.L.), and Clinical Psychology (Psy.D. or Ph.D.). Students pursuing one of these professional degrees can borrow up to $50,000 annually and $200,000 in aggregate federal student loans. Graduate students in fields not categorized as professional degrees are limited to $20,500 annually and $100,000 in aggregate federal student loans.

Six associations filed a lawsuit against the department on May 21, 2026, seeking to prevent the implementation of the new regulation. These associations represent professionals in advanced practice nursing, therapy, public health, and education. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026, which the plaintiffs sought to halt.

The court determined that at least six substantive changes had been made to the statutory definition without the required rulemaking process being completed. The court stated that the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking introduced a requirement that "a degree is not a 'professional degree' when the degree leads to employment where the employee must be supervised by another professional who has more education, training, and qualifications than the person being supervised." The court's stay prevents the rule from taking effect as planned on July 1, 2026.