Universities are scrambling after Education Department proposals and congressional pressure that would sharply change graduate borrowing limits. New rules would cap borrowing for programs not designated as “professional,” halving or more the total federal aid available to many master’s and doctoral students. Graduate-debt reliant programs face immediate budgetary and enrollment uncertainty, prompting deans and provosts to model revenue impacts and consider alternative financing tools. Separately, bipartisan lawmakers urged the Education Department to classify nursing as a professional program so students could access higher borrowing caps. Nursing organizations and university health programs have lobbied to avoid placement under stricter limits, warning that tighter loan access could reduce graduate nursing enrollment just as workforce demand for advanced clinicians is increasing.