The U.S. Department of Education expanded the federal definition of “professional” graduate degrees for purposes of student-loan borrowing caps, responding to a court order that temporarily blocked earlier implementation. The updated list raises eligibility for higher caps to 29 designated degree programs as of late June. The change was driven by litigation over the Education Department’s authority to narrow Congress’s broader concept of “professional” degrees to a limited set of mostly doctoral-level fields. The new list is intended to apply criteria from a 2007 regulation tied to licensing and entry into a profession. Education Department officials emphasized the list may change as litigation proceeds, while stating they are confident the regulation is lawful and will continue to defend it. The Professional designation matters because borrowing limits differ: higher caps for “professional” programs versus lower caps for other graduate programs. Institutions and financial aid offices will need to operationalize the update quickly for upcoming terms, while monitoring whether additional degrees—especially education-related leadership and teacher-prep programs—continue to be treated differently as courts resolve remaining challenges.