AASCU Federal Highlights – May 2026

Anticipated Lawsuit on RISE Rule

As recently reported, ED has now released the final rule following the consensus of the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee last fall. Since then, some higher education and advocacy groups have signaled possible legal challenges to the rule. As a reminder, it implements new graduate and professional student loan limits required under H.R. 1 (or OBBB, the "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act) and imposes new caps on Parent PLUS loans. Specifically, under the rule, students in 11 designated "professional" fields will qualify for up to $50,000 in federal student loans per year, with an aggregate limit of $200,000. Students in other graduate programs will be capped at $20,500 per year with a $100,000 aggregate limit. Parent PLUS loans will also now have annual and aggregate limits.

On this issue, AASCU has endorsed Rep. Mike Lawler's (R-NY) Professional Student Degree Act (H.R. 6718), which seeks to broaden the federal definition of a "professional degree" by allowing 13 additional graduate programs, many among the most popular RPU graduate programs, to qualify for higher federal student-loan borrowing limits.

Additional groups representing excluded programs, particularly in healthcare and education, argue the changes could make graduate education less accessible and worsen existing workforce shortages. Several organizations have also suggested that ED's interpretation exceeds congressional intent, and student advocates have criticized ED's argument that the rule will reduce student debt, warning that students may instead rely more heavily on private loans to finance their education. AASCU will continue to monitor and report on legal and legislative updates following the release of this final rule.