Governor Ned Lamont has announced that in response to the Trump administration’s recent overhaul of the federal student loan system, which will significantly impact the ability of many students to obtain low-interest federal loans covering the costs of graduate degree programs, he has submitted legislation to the Connecticut General Assembly that will establish the Connecticut Supplemental Graduate Student Loan Program.
The goal of this state-funded program aims to ensure that students in Connecticut seeking graduate degrees continue to have access to low-interest loans that cover their tuition, especially those seeking nursing, social work, and physical therapy graduate degrees, which are among the professions that will be particularly impacted by the recent federal changes.
“For decades, lower and middle-income students have depended on these low-interest loans to seek careers in good-paying professions, and now these recent federal changes are going to make graduate programs out of reach for many students who dream of pursuing a graduate degree,” Governor Lamont said. “I’m particularly concerned that these new federal changes are going to make it even harder for students to seek graduate degrees in areas such as nursing, social work, and physical therapy, when we actually should be doing more to encourage people to enter these fields. Creating this loan program at the state-level is a way that we can help ensure that the opportunity for people to seek graduate degrees is still obtainable and not only for those whose families have the means.”
In July, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, which includes the most expansive changes to federal student loan borrowing and repayment in decades. This includes establishing new limits on how much graduate students can take on in federal student loans based on whether the degree program is categorized by the U.S. Department of Education as a “graduate” or “professional” program.
Under these new caps, which take effect July 1, 2026, students pursuing a “graduate” degree will now only be able to borrow only half of what students pursuing a “professional” degree can. Specifically, students pursuing a “professional” degree will be able to borrow $50,000 annually, or $200,000 in total, while students pursuing a “graduate” degree will be able to borrow $20,500 annually or $100,000 total.
In November, the U.S. Department of Education released its definition of programs it will classify as “professional.” That definition includes pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, and theology. Notably, the definition does not include nursing, social work, and physical therapy programs, among others, meaning that these degrees will be defined as “graduate” and subject to the lower borrowing caps, which are unlikely to cover the full costs of tuition.
In addition to these changes, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminates Graduate PLUS loans for new borrowers. Graduate PLUS was the sole program dedicated to helping graduate and professional students finance the whole cost of attendance for their education.
Under Governor Lamont’s proposal, the Connecticut Supplemental Graduate Student Loan Program will be administered by the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority (CHESLA), the existing entity that provides Connecticut students with cost-effective financing programs for post-secondary education. The proposal allocates $10 million in bonding to launch the program.
Governor Lamont’s proposal is included in Senate Bill 85. The bill is currently being considered by the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee. A public hearing on the bill is expected to be scheduled within the next several weeks.
Photo by Sahil Singh: https://www.pexels.com/photo/nursing-students-practicing-medical-procedures-35645530/
