Not surprised and one can expect it to become even more skewed with these changes.
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So what should people do then? Even if I stay in state itāll be difficult to stay within the $200k debt cap, and while itās probably my reality now, itās really annoying that Iām completely limited to my two in-state options. If I was paying more for my undergrad and wasnāt able to save and especially if I was already taking out loans for undergrad, Iām not sure that I could make in state work either, and I know many people are in that position. If it wonāt work for people to stay within the federal loan cap no matter what they doā¦just pick another career? That doesnāt feel right either.
People need to reach out to their Senators and Congresspeople ASAP. Many of them admit they didnāt have time or couldnāt be bothered to read the actual legislation or executive orders which are going to impact millions of people - health, education, etc. Demand town halls across their districts so they can hear from their constituents the impact on REAL people.
People happily voted to āstick it to the liberalsā without understanding that the people who will be impacted are everywhere. Rural areas are likely to see the most harmā¦ people cannot be silent now.
THATāS what you can do. Now. Right now.
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The $200K debt cap is only for federal loans, it does not include private loansā¦thereās no cap on those.
Thereās no FEDERAL cap on private loans, but individual private lenders have caps on the maximum amount of loans they will give to an individual. Those caps will vary by lender and the credit-worthiness of the borrower.
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Thanks for mentioning that, you are right that many private lenders may cap educational loans too.
Students should max out the federal loans before they move into the private loans. Having the federal loans can affect oneās credit worthiness in the eyes of many private lenders. I do expect that some private companies will create new offerings for professional degree education loans based on these federal changes, once the dust settles.
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There already are loan companies that specialize in providing loans to med students.
Cal NorthState has refused to apply for the federal loan program for all of the 14 years of its medical program and even longer than that (18 years) for its pharmacy program. All Cal Northstateās med and pharm students either have their families pay cash for education or they/their families take out private educational loans. (Or the families mortgage their homes, take out home equity loans, pool resources from multiple family members, borrow from overseas lenders, etc.)
New medical schools that have not yet graduated a class or/and have not achieved provisional accreditation with the LCME or COCA are not eligible to join the federal student loan program. Students at new med schools are forced to seek out private lenders to pay for school until their program meets the qualification for applying to the federal student loan program.
So these lenders already exist, but their borrower pool is much smaller than it will starting 2026 when the new federal caps go into effect.
You can look around and see what is currently available for med students and assume the lending landscape isnāt change a huge amount in a year.
do you have a cite for that? (Or, is that really a political pov?)
Yes, Iām aware of the current professional degree lending landscape. But, Iām not sure I agree the cap isnāt going to change the market dynamics and hence the lending landscape.
There is going to be a larger market for private loans for professional degrees now that federal loans are capped at $200K. So, any med school student who was intending to borrow greater than $200K in fed loans will now be forced to go private for the balance of their financing (unless they can pay the balance without debt.)
Typically, when a market size increases significantly, it would be common to see increased competitionā¦via new product offerings and/or new entrants into said market.
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exactly. When the feds went all-in on COA, they crowded-out private lenders. No reason to assume taht they wonāt return, for a price. (And no reason to assume that they will, either!)
Med (and Dent and Pharm and Vet) students should be fine. Doctoral programs that arenāt fully funded, howeverā¦
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Time will tell! And I agree med/dent/pharm/vet students will be fine (albeit with higher interest costs on some portion of their loans).
And regarding you asking me for a citation above, yes, anything I put there would be political. I wouldnāt be surprised if at some point med schools will also have to turn over admittance data by race/GPA/MCAT.
they just need to keep their heads down for the next three years and pray for regime change. 
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