In a statement, the University of Minnesota noted that the new loan limits could also deter other students from entering in the state’s future health care workforce, such as dentists, veterinarians and pharmacists. About 70% of the state’s physicians and other health workers receive training at the U, and “almost 1,000 of current graduate health professionals utilize the Grad PLUS Loan program,” the statement said. The school “has over 2,500 student recipients of a Grad PLUS Loan, totaling more than $54 million in loans borrowed.”
Incentives, not deterrents, are critical to strengthen the pipeline of future medical professionals. The Big Beautiful Bill’s architects diagnosed the student debt problem accurately but made a serious error in prescribing a cure.