Social work students are caught between a federal rule, a court order, and a Department of Education (ED) that has signaled the rules could change again.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on June 24 preliminarily stayed key parts of ED’s professional degree definition. The court set aside ED’s added requirements that a professional degree be doctoral, require six years of coursework, fall within specified CIP code groupings, and require licensure.
On June 29, ED issued Electronic Announcement GENERAL-26-42 with an interim list of programs now temporarily eligible for the $50,000 annual / $200,000 aggregate professional loan limits during the stay. The newly included programs include physical therapy (DPT), occupational therapy (OTD/MSOT), physician associate/assistant (MSPA/PA), athletic training (MSAT/MAT), audiology (ATD), speech-language pathology (SLP), several advanced nursing degrees (MSN, DNAP, DNP), and additional Psy.D. subfields. Social work was not included in this interim list.
Here is where things stand as of July 8:
- The Reimaging and Improving Student Education (RISE) rule is in effect, with a $20,500 annual and $100,000 aggregate federal loan cap on programs that do not meet ED’s narrow professional degree definition.
- A federal court preliminarily stayed parts of that definition on June 24. ED’s June 29 guidance temporarily restored higher loan limits for some programs but explicitly stated those designations “may change as litigation proceeds.”
- ED has recommended that institutions consider capping loans at graduate-level limits anyway, to protect students from disruption if the stay is reversed.
For social work students, this means real uncertainty about how much federal aid they can borrow this year, next year, and through the rest of their training. Multi-year graduate programs cannot be financed on a designation that could flip at any point in the litigation.
The National Association of Social Workers is a member of the Advanced Professional Workforce Alliance, a coalition pushing Congress to enact a permanent legislative fix that does not depend on the outcome of ongoing litigation. Our workforce pipeline needs stability.
Social workers can contact their members of Congress and urge them to advance legislation which would allow social workers to be eligible for higher student loan limits.
Learn more: https://apwa.lewis-burke.com/
#RISERule #SWIsAProfession #AdvancedWorkforce
