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Department of Education Releases Proposed Rules on Student Loan-Related Policies
On January 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) published proposed rules that were created and agreed upon by the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) committee. As a reminder, the RISE committee focused on the restructuring of student loans, eliminating Grad PLUS loans for graduate and professional students, establishing new loan limits, and simplifying repayment plans. The committee reached consensus during the rulemaking sessions on all the language proposed and worked through by negotiators and Department. As expected, the proposed rules largely reflect what was agreed upon during the negotiations.The proposed rules include the new loan caps with the annual graduate loan limits at $20,500 for graduate students and $50,000 for professional students; the aggregate limit is capped at $100,000 for graduate students and $200,000 for professional students. Social work was not considered a professional degree and therefore is subject to the annual graduate loan limits at $20,500 and aggregate limit at $100,000.
In the proposed final rule, ED acknowledged the rulemaking committee’s consideration for social work not being classified as a professional degree. The department provided various rationales for their exclusion, including that “MSW and DSW would not meet the professional degree definition because neither degree is generally required to obtain an entry-level licensure in the social work field or to begin work in a profession.” An additional rationale for social work and additional programs’ exclusion from the professional degree definition was that professional degrees should “require another profession to supervise their practice.”
ED welcomes public comments to the proposed rules until March 2, 2026. CSWE plans to submit a comment advocating for social work education and will continue to advocate to legislators on the importance of social work education and the impact it has on our communities.