A federal court has temporarily stopped a specific definition used by the Trump administration to decide which students can access higher federal student loan limits.

聯邦法院暫時阻止了川普政府用來決定哪些學生可以獲得更高聯邦學生貸款限額的特定定義。

The legal conflict began with the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' which changed how federal graduate loans are managed. Instead of basing loans on the total cost of attendance, the law introduced a capped system. Under these rules, standard graduate students can borrow up to $20,500 per year and $100,000 in total. However, students in 'professional' programs can borrow up to $50,000 annually and $200,000 in total. The Department of Education tried to limit the 'professional' category to only 11 programs, such as law and medicine, which excluded advanced nursing and other healthcare fields.

這場法律衝突始於《一個大而美法案》（One Big Beautiful Bill Act），該法案改變了聯邦研究生貸款的管理方式。法律引入了上限制度，而非根據總就讀成本來決定貸款額。根據這些規則，一般研究生每年最多可借款 20,500 美元，總額上限為 100,000 美元。然而，「專業」課程的學生每年最多可借款 50,000 美元，總額上限為 200,000 美元。教育部試圖將「專業」類別限制在 11 個課程中，例如法律和醫學，這排除了高級護理和其他醫療保健領域。

This decision led to a lawsuit from several trade organizations, including the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. These groups argued that the administration's definition was unfair and unreasonable. They emphasized that such a limit would cause serious damage to the healthcare and education workforces. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell agreed that the plaintiffs were likely to win their case, so she paused the new definition while the legal process continues.

這個決定導致了數個貿易組織的起訴，包括美國執業護師協會。這些組織認為政府的定義不公平且不合理。他們強調，這樣的限制將對醫療保健和教育勞動力造成嚴重損害。美國地區法院法官 Beryl Howell 同意原告有可能贏得訴訟，因此在法律程序繼續進行期間，她暫停了新定義的實施。

On the other hand, the Department of Education asserted that this policy would not make nursing shortages worse. The agency claimed that 95% of nursing students already borrow less than the proposed limits and suggested that these caps would encourage universities to lower their tuition. Despite this argument, the court's decision means that the older, broader definitions of professional degrees will still apply for the July 1 rollout, although the general loan caps will still be enforced.

另一方面，教育部堅稱這項政策不會使護理短缺問題惡化。該機構聲稱 95% 的護理系學生借款額已低於擬議的上限，並建議這些上限將鼓勵大學降低學費。儘管有此論點，法院的決定意味著在 7 月 1 日起實施時，仍將適用較早且較寬泛的專業學位定義，儘管一般的貸款上限仍將執行。

The government's attempt to limit the 'professional' degree category is currently on hold, but the general borrowing limits remain in place until the court makes a final decision.

政府嘗試限制「專業」學位類別的行動目前暫停，但在法院作出最終決定前，一般的借款上限仍然有效。