California, other states sue over new Trump limits on loans for nurses, PAs, therapists

California and a coalition of other Democratic-led states are suing the Trump administration over new limits on federal borrowing for future nurses, physician assistants, therapists, social workers, mental health practitioners and other health care workers, arguing the changes will further shrink a struggling but vital workforce.

“This case is about protecting access to education, protecting our healthcare workforce, and protecting the patients who rely on these providers every day,” said California Atty. said General Rob Bonta during a virtual press conference Tuesday. “The Trump administration is doing everything possible to make it more difficult and more expensive for students to pursue the advanced degrees needed to serve their communities and pursue meaningful careers that allow them to support themselves and their families. »

Bonta said the new limits on loans applied for by nursing and other health care students — which the U.S. Department of Education initiated in response to Republicans passing broader caps on student loans as part of last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — were an illegal overreach by the agency that was “deeply myopic” and beyond the scope of the legislation.

“Congress can act,” he said. “But what the Department of Education cannot do is – contrary to the law and arbitrarily and capriciously and in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act – redefine what a professional student is.”

In response to the litigation, Trump administration officials defended the new rules, saying they would help student borrowers in the long term by reducing tuition costs at the nation’s universities and preventing them from taking on too much debt.

“After decades of uncontrolled student borrowing that gave schools no reason to control costs, these common-sense loan caps – created by Congress – are already providing incentives for colleges and universities to reduce tuition costs,” Deputy Education Secretary Nicholas Kent said in a statement to the Times.

Kent said Bonta and his Democratic colleagues “are more concerned about the financial results of institutions.” [than] The ability of American students and their families to access affordable postsecondary education. As an example of institutions responding to loan limits by lowering costs, Kent cited UC Irvine reducing costs for its master’s in business programs by up to 38 percent in order to keep them below the federal loan limit for such programs.

The One Big Beautiful Bill, passed by Congress in July 2025, placed new limits on student loans, which previously could be applied for for the full cost of those degrees. Starting next July, applicants classified as “graduate students” will only be able to borrow $20,500 per year and $100,000 in total, while applicants classified as “professional students” will be allowed to borrow up to $50,000 per year and $200,000 in total.

On May 1, the U.S. Department of Education issued a new rule defining the category of “professional students” to include those pursuing degrees to become physicians, pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, various medical specialists, pastors, and other religious scholars, and excluding those pursuing nursing or other advanced degrees in health care.

In announcing the change, Kent said it would “simplify our complex student loan repayment system and better align higher education with the needs of the workforce,” “bring about a step change in higher education by holding universities accountable for outcomes and putting significant downward pressure on tuition rates,” and “help borrowers who will no longer be forced into insurmountable debt to finance degrees that don’t pay off.”

Others fiercely disagreed, including health care executives who also opposed the rule change during a public comment period. Some said the changes would only increase students’ reliance on less favorable loans from the private sector.

The American Association. of Colleges of Nursing, in a statement, said it and its members were “irritated by the Department of Education’s failure to support the nursing profession as demand for patient care services increases.”

Nearly 150 members of Congress — including more than a dozen Republicans — wrote a letter the day after the rule was signed into law, expressing “disappointment” with the exclusion of post-baccalaureate nursing degrees.

“As our nation faces a health care shortage, particularly in primary care, now is not the time to cut off students’ access to these programs,” the lawmakers argued.

Rachel Zaentz, a spokeswoman for the University of California, which is not a party to the lawsuit but operates a large network of public health programs, said in a statement Tuesday that UC “strongly opposes” the administration’s new caps on federal loans for nurses and other health care professionals, which she said “will be most acutely felt by low-income graduate students.”

“UC will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that cost is not a barrier for anyone who wants to pursue higher education, and we will continue to advocate with our federal partners for the programs and policies that make this possible,” Zaentz said.

Bonta rejected the administration’s argument that the new caps would help students pursuing medical career dreams avoid taking on too much debt — calling it “tone-deaf.” He said these students are “already struggling at all costs” due to the Trump administration’s tariffs, the war in Iran and the lax approach to regulating monopolies and other big businesses.

He also dismissed the idea that the new loan caps would force institutions to reduce costs for students, calling it “wishful thinking.”

This is the 68th lawsuit filed by Bonta’s office against the second Trump administration. The attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, joined Bonta in the lawsuit – which was filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland.

Times staff writer Jaweed Kaleem contributed to this report.