Protect Current Medical Students Under OBBB Grandfathering Provisions

Protect Current Medical Students Under OBBB Grandfathering Provisions I am writing to respectfully request urgent congressional action regarding the graduate student loan grandfathering provisions contained in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) and the Department of Education's RISE Final Rule issued on May 1, 2026. Although the OBBB intended to provide grandfathering protections for current students, the statute's narrow language is producing unintended consequences. Rather than allowing students up to three years to complete their degrees, the grandfathering period is effectively applied retroactively to loans already disbursed. As a result, many students may have already exhausted a significant portion of their eligibility as legacy Grad PLUS borrowers despite remaining enrolled and making satisfactory academic progress toward their degrees. The problem is compounded by the current definition of "program length" as the minimum time required to complete a degree rather than the expected time to completion. This shift fails to account for the realities of graduate and professional education and leaves many students at risk of losing federal funding before they can graduate. Many medical students have already invested years of study and borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal loans with the expectation that they would be able to complete the programs they had already begun. If federal funding is exhausted before graduation, students may be forced to rely on private education loans after years outside the workforce, often facing significantly higher interest rates, stricter underwriting standards, or denial of credit altogether. For some, this could mean being unable to complete their degrees despite years of academic progress. The impact will fall most heavily on low-income, first-generation, minority, and nontraditional students, reducing access to medical education and worsening existing healthcare disparities. At the same time, the United States faces a growing physician shortage, with the Health Resources and Services Administration projecting a shortfall of up to 141,160 physicians by 2038. Policies that make it harder for current medical students to complete their education will only exacerbate this challenge. We respectfully ask Congress to ensure that all currently enrolled students receive the full three years of grandfathering protections envisioned under the OBBB, regardless of program length determinations. We also ask Congress to consider legislative action to overturn or modify the RISE Final Rule so that students who have already committed to these educational pathways can complete their degrees and serve the communities that need them most. Thank you for your time and consideration.