A new bill introduced by Representative Shomari Figures, an Alabama Democrat, would reverse one of the most significant student loan changes enacted under President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill. The proposal, known as the Restoring Opportunity for Advanced Education Act, would effectively restore access to Grad PLUS loans and eliminate the new federal borrowing caps for graduate and professional students created under OBBA. The new Trump administration's limits on graduate student borrowing took effect on July 1, capping how much students can borrow in federal loans and ending the Grad PLUS program for new borrowers.
The Department of Education created the borrowing limits to curb excessive student debt and pressure colleges to temper tuition costs. However, there’s been growing criticism that the new rules could make graduate and professional education inaccessible for middle-income students who lack the resources to pay large out-of-pocket expenses or qualify for private loans. Professional degree programs often carry price tags well into six figures, so the outcome of the legislation could significantly affect future doctors, lawyers, psychologists and other grad programs.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law last year, making substantial changes to federal student aid programs. One of the most significant changes was eliminating the Grad PLUS loan program, which previously allowed graduate and professional students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance. Beginning with loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, the law imposed new borrowing limits: Borrowers were also subject to a lifetime federal student loan limit of $257,500 across federal loan programs.
The Trump administration said the reforms would help prevent excessive borrowing and encourage institutions to reduce costs. Beyond medicine, several professional graduate degrees routinely cost well into six figures. Dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, optometry and elite MBA programs can each exceed $200,000 to $300,000 when tuition and living expenses are included.
Among the most expensive are dental degrees, which can cost more than $500,000 in total at some institutions, while law, psychology and pharmacy graduates also often face substantial student debt burdens. Figures' legislation would roll back the new graduate and professional school borrowing restrictions. According to the congressman's office, the bill would repeal annual borrowing limits for graduate and professional students and eliminate the new borrowing caps created by the law.
There would also no longer be a lifetime borrowing cap, and the Grad PLUS loan program would become available again. The caps are there for a few reasons,” Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek. The other is to try to bring down the overall cost of education for those degree programs.” In announcing the legislation, Figures said that the current borrowing limits threaten access to higher education for students who cannot afford to pay graduate school costs upfront.
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