A pair of advocacy groups filed suit on Wednesday against the Education Department over its cap on how much physician associates and assistants (PAs) can borrow in student loans, the latest legal challenge to the recent limits.
The American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) and the PA Education Association filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the Department of Education’s impending rule change on the borrowing cap for PA students is unlawful.
Under the new rule, which the department published in the Federal Register last month, graduate and professional students can borrow up to $100,000 and $200,000 in loans, respectively. Annually, the two groups of students can respectively borrow up to $20,500 and $50,000.
The median tuition for in-state and out-state PA students is nearly $97,000 and more than $101,200, respectively, according to the AAPA. The association noted in February that factoring in housing, fees, supplies and “other required expenses,” the total cost of attendance for PA students “often exceeds” $200,000.
Eleven programs qualify as “professional” degrees under the new rule, including chiropractic, dentistry, medicine, optometry, osteopathy, pharmacy, podiatry and veterinary medicine. PA programs, though, are not in that category and are therefore subject to the lower borrowing limits.
