Graduate students pursuing fields like nursing, education and public health could have additional access to federal loans in the future, if Congressman Tim Kennedy succeeds in passing the Loan Equity for Advanced Professionals, or LEAP Act.
The legislation means post-baccalaureate students would not have to be so reliant on private lenders, Kennedy said.
“It ensures that graduate and professional students have equal access to student loans, because access to education should not depend on wealth or privilege," he said. "When we block access to education, we shrink our care economy, we stifle job growth.”
The LEAP Act would guarantee students in those programs have the same access to loans as other students pursuing advanced degrees, said Congressman and co-sponsor Shomari Figures, D-Alabama.
“We need to be doing everything we can to support the creation of more nurses, the creation of more career paths in the healthcare field, in general. We have to do this," he said. "This should not be a political issue. It should not be a partisan issue. This is an issue that is good for business, it is good for economy, it is good for the healthcare outcomes in all of our districts.”
Under President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, students in “professional degree” programs, like doctors and lawyers, will be able to take up to $50,000 in annual direct unsubsidized loans. Students in “graduate degree” programs would be limited to just over $20,000, effective July 1.
