Hawai’i U.S.Rep. Jill Tokuda and two of her fellow Democratic colleagues in the U.S. House introduced legislation to correct a disparity created by a republican spending bill that impacts healthcare students.
The spending bill drastically reduces borrowing power for students seeking advanced health degrees – such as nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists and public health workers – while leaving limits for other professionals untouched.
The proposed Loan Equity for Advanced Professionals – or LEAP – Act creates parity by raising the cap for graduate students, ensuring these vital professionals have the same borrowing capacity as their peers.
Prior to the spending bill’s passage, post-baccalaureate students were able to borrow up to the cost of attendance for federal lending through the Grad PLUS programme.
though, the program was eliminated and a two-tiered system was established for direct unsubsidized loans: a higher $50,000 annual limit for “professional” degrees and a slashed $20,500 annual limit for “graduate” degrees.
“Regardless of whatever misguided label the [U.S.] Department of Education wants to slap on these programs, nursing, physical therapy and other advanced health training are health care professions,” said Tokuda in a press release. “To say or else is offensive, and the people who step up to serve our communities in these fields are professionals.”
Tokuda added that the “Big, Ugly Bill” failed Americans by refusing to recognise the urgent need for these health care workers and by making it harder for students to enter these critical fields.
“That’s why I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing the loan Equity for Advanced Professional Act,” she said. “This bill ensures equal access to federal student loans so graduate and professional students can finish their degrees, get to work and help shore up the health workforce our communities depend on.”
New York Rep. Tim Kennedy and Alabama Rep. Shomari Figures co-introduced the measure with Tokuda.
As part of the HealthCAST program at University of hawai’i at Mānoa, an acting student portrays an oncology patient in March 2023 while a nursing student practices what she learned in the classroom.
When Kennedy went to grad school to become an occupational therapist, he remembers filling out the forms, hoping he’d have enough to cover his expenses.