Hello and welcome back to The Markup, Inside Higher Ed’s weekly roundup of all things higher ed policy. I’m your host, Katherine Knott, IHE’s very tired news editor.
In the last week, Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended her proposed budget cuts and efforts to dismantle her agency while testifying before a Senate subcommittee. The next day, a closed-door meeting between McMahon and a different Senate panel was called off when one Democrat threatened to live-stream the discussion. McMahon said the threat was “disappointing” but that she’s “always open to transparency.”
Meanwhile, the Education Department is probing whether a Stanford University program that helps aspiring teachers discriminates based on race. And the University of Pennsylvania won’t have to give the government a list of faculty who are members of Jewish campus groups while it appeals a court order.
This Week’s Big Story
Let’s talk about loan caps, y’all, because the Education Department has finalized regulations that will limit how much graduate students can borrow from the government. We’ve talked about this plan at length since Congress first passed the caps last summer, but to recap: Students in professional degree programs can borrow $50,000 a year and $200,000 over all, while those in all other graduate programs will only be able to take out $20,500 a year or $100,000 in total.
Which programs count as professional has been a big point of contention since ED first proposed the rule last fall. Ultimately, only pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, theology and clinical psychology are included in the department’s definition of professional programs.
That list is unchanged from the initial proposal despite lots of pushback. But the fight isn’t over. At least two associations representing physician assistants are planning to sue. (PA master’s programs have the highest number of borrowers who are over the caps, according to department data released Thursday.) And if the courts don’t address it, some lawmakers in Congress say they’ll take action to expand the definition. Congress, after all, created this professional distinction for loan limits and could clarify its intent.
Jessica Blake has the details here on what’s next and why ED declined to change its definition.
Lots is at stake for students and institutions, as the loan caps take effect July 1. Advocates have warned for months that the caps could potentially limit college access for hundreds of thousands of students and weaken pipelines for several high-demand health-care professions. And institutions will likely take a financial hit and have to change their approach to graduate education.
