Two physician associate groups have against the Department of Education over a new rule limiting student loan borrowing for some graduate degree programs for healthcare professionals.
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The Daily Caller reports that the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) and the PA Education Association (PAEA) filed suit on June 3, challenging the final Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) rule as unlawful ahead of its July 1 implementation date.
RISE caps annual graduate federal student loan borrowing to $20,500 effective July 1 by keeping the current limit for Direct Unsubsidized Loans and eliminating Graduate PLUS Loans.
That rule change would place physician associate/assistant (PA) and nursing students into a lower “graduate” borrowing tier for federal student loans and also set the borrowing limit for designated “professional degree” programs such as medicine, law, and theology to $50,000.
According to International Medical Aid, PAEA previously reported that the average cost of a 27-month physician assistant program was approximately $98,075 for residents and $107,288 for non-residents in 2026.
U.S. Department of Education press secretary Ellen Keast told The Daily Caller:
For two decades, colleges and universities have been able to charge virtually unlimited tuition, even as many student loan borrowers see little to no return on their investment . . . The Trump Administration is working to correct this longstanding imbalance by ending a system that pushed students into debt they often could not repay and by promoting access to high quality education that serves students, not institutional bottom lines.
A press release from AAPA says that the cap would create an immediate and significant barrier to entering the profession because tuition for the vast majority of PA programs is several times higher than the proposed annual loan limit, not inclusive of mandatory fees and living expenses.
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According to a PAEA press release, over three-quarters of physician assistant student borrowers required federal loans above the $20,500 limit in academic year 2023–24.
ABC7 reports that the lawsuit alleges the Education Department overstepped its legal authority by disqualifying a PA degree from being categorized as a professional degree.
PAEA CEO Sara Fletcher said:
PA students are preparing to serve patients in every community across this country. Together, we are standing up for educational opportunity, for the integrity of the law, and for the future healthcare workforce that millions of patients will rely upon in the years ahead.
PA employment is projected to grow 20 percent by 2034, and by 2032, PAs and APRNs are expected to make up roughly half of all practitioners in the United States, according to AAPA.
The groups are filing a seeking to block the rule from taking effect for PA students on July 1, to allow students already accepted into summer and fall PA programs this year to have access to higher loan limits that make it possible for them to finance their PA education.
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