The Trump administration is proposing changes to the federal student loan system that would put a cap on how much some students can borrow.

The cap would impact nursing, physical therapy, dental hygiene and other fields so that the Department of Education no longer defines as professional programs.

The plan is still being finalized.

Leslie Sizemore is with the Kentucky Council on Post-secondary education that oversees the state's colleges and universities.

Earlier today, I asked her about the message this change could send to colleges and universities in the state.

It changes the structure for federal loans is what it does.

So if you are not categorized in that professional category that that existed beforehand, then the loan limitations are put in place.

So you'll be able to borrow less money.

It's more of an issue with our very expensive degrees like dentistry and medicine and those degrees that cost really a lot of money to get out.

So that's the concern.

When they categorize, fields like nursing into those and say they're not a professional program, it's not really saying that nursing isn't a professional program.

It's just saying that they don't fit that that category.

To borrow the extreme amounts of money.

So, I think it is a concern for higher education, but we know that in order to be viable in the future, we have to keep the cost of education down.

So it's something that, I know Doctor Thompson is very concerned about.

And all of our institutions in the state, our public institutions are very concerned about is keeping that cost down.

Right.

But also about the, the how their programs are able to survive, if perhaps there's going to be some cap or capacity at which you can borrow money.

And these critical areas that may deter folks from that field of study altogether.

And then there are a lot of programs that are built up, academic programs built up around that.

So it it is it has systemic reverberations, right.

It's a message to the higher education institutions, for sure.

So we are concerned about that.

And we're continuing to monitor that.

So, you know, that's why it's so important to have our federal lobby and for people to really stay informed about those situations.

You know, our smaller institutions are of greatest risk.

And some of our public institutions that really put out a lot of our health care folks, you know, I mean, they are really, very critically at risk here, I think, with some of these federal legislative.

Moves, you know, and it could also discourage those who are in certain socioeconomic strata to not pursue these fields.

Those who can't afford to to take on more debt will be able to do it.

But those who can't, may have to look elsewhere to other opportunities in career or work.

That's exactly right.

I think one of the things that this administration struggles with is understanding that workforce is not just your blue collar, you know, Hvac, electrical, plumbing.

Those are the the fields that they're really encouraging.

And we need those, yes, desperately across our state and across our nation.

But our professional fields are also in crisis for workforce.

And so we need to to not forget that workforce means a great spectrum of professions, not just those more technical fields.