Hundreds of colleges, thousands of faculty and tens of thousands of public comments urged the Department of Education to reconsider proposed rules that would sharply limit graduate student access to Grad PLUS loans. Commenters warned the planned classification changes could cut off federal financing for nursing, social work, public health and other professional programs that rely heavily on graduate borrowing to enroll students. The push comes as Congress already set a timetable ending Grad PLUS disbursements; advocates and program leaders asked the department to modify regulatory implementation to avoid abrupt enrollment shocks and workforce shortages in health‑care and public‑service fields. Institutions emphasized that limiting loan access could shrink pipelines for high‑need professions and disproportionately harm lower‑income and rural students. Education Department officials acknowledge the statutory change but are considering interpretive rules. Colleges and professional programs said they are prepared to make a final case on classification and transition timelines ahead of the July 1 implementation date.