The Department of Education finalized a regulation affecting federal graduate student loans, narrowing the definition of which fields qualify as “professional” graduate degrees eligible for higher annual and lifetime borrowing limits. The administration argues the “common sense” change will control higher education costs. A key adjustment is that education graduate programs would be excluded from the “professional” category, reducing borrowing caps for many students pursuing K-12 leadership and teaching-adjacent credentials. The new limits are set by the “One Big Beautiful Bill” law, which created higher caps for “professional” degree fields and lower caps for others. Education organizations warn the policy could worsen educator shortages. A coalition of 14 groups led by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education argues caps would reduce enrollment in education master’s programs and increase dropout rates, with knock-on impacts to special education teacher pipelines and district administrator staffing. The article notes that a large share of education graduate students attend part-time, meaning the regulation’s prorated limits could hit borrowers disproportionately. The regulation takes effect July 1.