11/19/2025
New federal student loan rules will soon change how much grad students can borrow and this could affect future SLPs, OTs, and PTs.
Under the new system, programs will be classified as either “professional” or “graduate.”
The borrowing limits for each group are very different:
🎓Professional programs: Up to $50,000 per year
🎓Graduate programs: Up to $20,500 per year
The concern:
If programs like speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, or physical therapy are placed in the graduate category, students would receive far less federal loan support, even though these programs are often significantly more expensive.
This doesn’t change our professional status.
It does impact how students fund their education and could make it harder for future clinicians to enter the field.
As these rules are finalized, staying informed matters. And when the public comment period opens, our voices will too.
