Several health systems and industry associations are urging the Education Department to reconsider proposed changes to federal student loan policies, citing workforce and financial challenges that could limit care access.
The proposed rule — Reimagining and Improving Student Education, published Jan. 30 — would amend regulations for federal student loan programs.
Statutory changes in HR 1 would cap federal loans for graduate and professional students, creating a $20,500 annual borrowing limit for graduate students and a $50,000 annual limit for professional students.
Under the rule, healthcare fields including physician assistants and nurse practitioners would not be considered professional degrees and would limit the money students could borrow from federal student loan programs for those roles, according to a Feb. 26 news release from Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, social work and education would also be excluded from the department’s definition of professional degree programs.
“By limiting access to financial aid for those seeking advanced healthcare degrees, the proposed policy changes will shrink the pipeline of future providers,” Essentia Health Assistant Chief Medical Officer Christie Erickson, DNP, RN, said in the release. “The effects of these changes will be felt most acutely in rural areas that already struggle to recruit and retain clinicians. Facing these workforce shortages, we should be making it easier for students to choose advanced health care professions, not more difficult.”
If finalized, the rule would place physician assistants students in the lower graduate borrowing tier, limiting annual federal loans to $20,500 beginning July 1, the American Academy of Physician Assistants said in a Feb. 26 news release. This would not cover tuition in most programs and would force students to rely on private loans or personal wealth, the organization said.
Federal loans would be limited to $100,000 total for any graduate student excluded from the professional student category, Deborah Brown, chief external affairs officer for New York City-based NYC Health + Hospitals, said in a Feb. 25 public comment.
“This could force students without the ability to fully fund their education out of pocket to seek out high interest private loans, which could increase the rates of student loan debt which has trapped students into a cycle of debt, and prevent them from pursuing the profession entirely,” Ms. Brown said. “The result would be fewer graduates in these important healthcare fields, at a time when health care workforce shortages are being felt across the entire country.”
More than 75 health systems and other healthcare organizations formed a national coalition Feb. 10 in response to the proposed limits.
The public comment period ends at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time March 2.
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