Data / Federal rules / 2026-01912
Reimagining and Improving Student Education
The Education Department published this proposed rule in the Federal Register on January 30, 2026. Comments closed on March 2, 2026.
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What the agency says
The Secretary proposes to amend the regulations for the Federal student loan programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended (the title IV, HEA programs) to implement the statutory changes to the title IV, HEA programs included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. These changes include establishing new loan limits for graduate students, professional students, and parents, and phasing out the Graduate PLUS Program. The Department notes that the term "professional student" as used in this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) is intended solely to distinguish those programs that we propose would be eligible for higher loan limits, as required by the OBBB. The designation, or lack thereof, of a program as "professional" does not reflect a value judgment by the Department regarding whether a borrower graduating from the program is considered a "professional." This NPRM only interprets the phrase "professional student" as used in the context of the loan limits established by the OBBB. The OBBB also simplifies the current broken and confusing myriad of Federal student loan repayment plans by phasing out the existing Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plans, creating a new tiered standard repayment plan option, and implementing a new income-driven repayment plan known as the Repayment Assistant Plan. The OBBB also enables borrowers in default who have previously rehabilitated a defaulted loan a second chance to rehabilitate their loan(s) and resume repayment.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2026-01912
- Type
- Proposed rule
- Action
- Notice of proposed rulemaking
- Agency
- Education Department
- Published
- January 30, 2026
- Comments due
- March 2, 2026
- Dates
- We must receive your comments on or before March 2, 2026.
- Docket
- Docket ID ED-2025-OPE-0944
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 1840-AD98
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 34 CFR 674; 34 CFR 682; 34 CFR 685
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Colleges and universities; Education; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Student aid
- Pages
- 93
Other documents from the Education Department
Everything from the Education Department · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on colleges and universities · Rules on education · Published in January 2026
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.