Wisconsin Attorney General joins a coalition AGs in a lawsuit filed against Department of Education over the student loan rule.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was the U.S. federal statute signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, 2025. The legislative package has restructured federal tax, spending, and social safety net policies and education. The Department of Education has implemented the changes called for in the law that includes disallowing nurses pursuing an advanced practice degree from qualifying as “professional”. The financial impact is limited access to borrowing up to $50,000 a year and $200,000 overall. The final rule includes access to 11 “professional” types: chiropractic, clinical psychology, dentistry, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, podiatry, theology and veterinary medicine. Nursing including CRNAs, physical therapy, physician assistants, public health: Master of Public Health (MPH) and Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) and mental & social health.
On May 19, 2026 a coalition of the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland against the Department of Education over the student loan rule limiting The coalition of AGs lawsuit argues that the current rule could harm states by reducing support for public institutions of higher education, creating barriers for students pursuing advanced training, and worsening workforce shortages in critical professions and that it narrows the federal definition of “professional degree” and imposes restrictions Congress did not authorize . The complaint notes that these impacts could be particularly significant in fields such as healthcare, where states already face ongoing workforce challenges.
ANA comment: “The American Nurses Association (ANA) issued a statement applauding a lawsuit against the Department of Education, filed by a coalition of attorneys general and two governors in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. ANA also announced, in collaboration with other nursing organizations, its intent to file a nurse-forward lawsuit against the Department. ANA and its partners are committed to ensuring nurses retain full access to the federal loan resources necessary to obtain their education, and we will defend that commitment in court. You can find the full statement in our newsroom here.”
WNA will monitor and share information about the lawsuit as it emerges.
Other information:
States sue over new student loan limits on certain nursing and healthcare degrees
AG document filing: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/state-of-maryland-et-al-v-united-states-of-education-linda-mcmahon-court-filing-2026.pdf
