Court pauses new federal limits on graduate student loans

A federal judge temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Education's new rule narrowing the definition of 'professional degree' to 11 fields, which would have imposed stricter federal loan caps on graduate students in excluded fields like nursing and teaching. The judge ruled the department likely exceeded its authority, but did not block the loan caps themselves, which are statutory. The decision followed lawsuits from groups representing nursing, education, public health, and physician assistant programs.