Protect Our Skilled Workforce

If you care about access and affordability, be aware: proposed changes to the Grad PLUS loan program could sharply reduce – and in some cases eliminate – access to graduate education for major segments of our future healthcare and professional workforce.

The Grad PLUS student loan program – essential to expanding access to high-demand fields like medicine, nursing, public health, dentistry, law, and engineering – is scheduled to sunset in July 2026. Proposed changes could slash loan limits and exclude entire categories of graduate students from eligibility. These cuts would make graduate education less accessible, deepen student debt burdens, and worsen shortages in the nation’s most critical professions.

Consider graduate nursing programs. Under new federal guidelines, some UW nursing degrees may no longer qualify as “healthcare degrees” and could be excluded from loan eligibility. That means fewer nurses entering the field at a time when our hospitals, clinics, and communities need them most.

This is a mistake – and a costly one for our country’s future workforce.

Tell Congress: Protect Grad PLUS. Do not cap loans or limit eligibility for our future doctors, nurses, dentists, engineers, and other skilled professionals. Our nation depends on them. 

Click here to speak up for affordable, accessible graduate education.