Graduate Student Loans: How Caps Threaten Access

For the last 60 years, the Higher Education Act (HEA) has aimed to expand educational opportunities and promote upward mobility for low-income students. Federal student loan programs have played a critical role in fulfilling that mission by enabling students from all backgrounds to pursue advanced degrees. This issue brief examines how provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cap federal loans for graduate and professional students, undermine HEA and reduce equitable access to advanced degrees in high-cost fields like law and medicine.