The other side: Education Department spokesperson Ellen Keast says schools charge "virtually unlimited tuition
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Yes, but: "A university doesn't say, 'hey, Axios is going to set tuition based on the federal loan amount,'" American Association of Nurse Practitioners President Valerie Fuller tells Axios.
Key facts
Catch up quickly: Trump's 2025 tax bill capped federal loans at $100,000 total for those pursuing graduate degrees, and $200,000 for 11 professional degrees, including medical doctors, pharmacists
Median tuition totals $298,000 at four-year public medical schools and more than $408,000 at private ones, per Association of American Medical Colleges data, far above the lifetime cap
Not everyone qualifies for private student loans, per research by the Century Foundation and Protect Borrowers
Education Department spokesperson Ellen Keast says schools charge "virtually unlimited tuition, even as many student loan borrowers see little to no return on their investment
Summary
The Trump administration's new federal student loan limits could force aspiring health care workers to abandon their degrees or turn to private lenders. America's aging population means the nation needs more health care workers, but the borrowing cap could exacerbate the industry's worker shortage, which is already marked by medical care deserts and longer wait times. "The health care workforce is not a faucet that you can turn on and off," Adrienne Thomas of the American Hospital Association tells Axios. Catch up quickly: Trump's 2025 tax bill capped federal loans at $100,000 total for those pursuing graduate degrees, and $200,000 for 11 professional degrees, including medical doctors, pharmacists and dentists. Physician assistants, nurse practitioners and other health care professionals fall in the graduate degree category, excluding them from the higher borrowing cap.