An imminent threat to holistic health

A Proposed Rulemaking by the U.S. Department of Education threatens student loan access for some healthcare degrees, including those for Naturopathic Doctors and Physical Therapists, among several others.

These decisions will eventually limit patient access to holistic healthcare, not to mention the impact on the degree programs.

The following paragraphs describe the background, the imminent threat, and the action you can take.

In the past, graduate students had access to federal student loans up to $20.5 thousand per year. Students pursuing certain professional programs had access to an additional $20–26.6 thousand per year, up to aggregate limits of $224 thousand. Additional graduate degree costs could be financed through the Graduate PLUS program, which offered federal loans up to the full cost of attendance, without a cap.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), passed in July 2025, made several changes to federal student loans. Most notably, it eliminates new Grad PLUS loans beginning July 1, 2026, and establishes new annual and lifetime loan caps. Under the new framework, most graduate students would be limited to $20.5 thousand per year (with a $100 thousand lifetime cap), while certain “professional programs” would qualify for limits of $50 thousand per year (with a $200 thousand cap). More on Professional Degrees below.
The OBBB uses an existing regulatory definition of a Professional Degree for federal loan purposes, but only lists about a dozen degrees that qualify for the higher limits. This creates uncertainty for degrees that appear to meet the definition of a professional degree, or that previously qualified for higher limits, but are not specifically listed in the OBBB.

This is where the implications become clear:

The Department of Education administers federal Direct student loans and is therefore responsible for determining the applicable annual and lifetime loan limits for graduate students based on their degree. As a result, it must interpret the OBBB and resolve any uncertainty.
The Department of Education formalizes its interpretation of regulations through a process known as “rulemaking.” On January 30, it issued a Proposed Rulemaking to clarify the meaning of Professional Degree as it relates to the federal loan limits established by the OBBB.
The Proposed Rulemaking proposes that Naturopathic Doctors, Occupational Therapists, advanced nursing degrees, Physical Therapists, Physician Assistants, Social Workers, and advanced Public Health degrees would not be treated as Professional Degrees for purposes of determining federal loan limits.

For many would-be holistic healthcare professionals, the result is more limited access to federal student loans, which are typically less expensive, requiring greater reliance on higher-cost private loans to fund their education.

As these degrees become more difficult and expensive to obtain, fewer students are likely to pursue them, ultimately limiting access to whole-person care.

This issue has important implications for holistic healthcare education and patient access, which is why we’re encouraging practitioner engagement.

How you can help:

The Department of Education is accepting public comments on its Proposed Rulemaking until March 2. In the meantime, there are three steps you can take:

Contact your professional association to determine whether it is coordinating a response or has specific recommendations related to your degree.

Submit a comment on the Department of Education’s proposed rulemaking. The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians has developed a clear strategy that makes it easy to participate, should your association not already be engaged.

Consider contacting your member of Congress to make them aware of the issue and its potential impact.