一名联邦法官再次重创特朗普政府限制学生贷款借款额度的计划。美国俄勒冈地区法院法官迈克尔·西蒙裁定，教育部在打算限制特定专业学位获取联邦贷款资格时越权。这是第三位联邦法官作出裁决，阻止该部门计划生效。
A federal judge dealt another blow to the Trump administration's plans to cap student-loan borrowing. US District Judge Michael Simon ruled that the Department of Education exceeded its authority when it intended to restrict access to federal lending for certain professional degrees. It's the third ruling by a federal judge blocking the department's plan from taking effect.
教育部原计划于7月1日实施一项新规，将专业学位范围限定为11个项目，包括牙医学和医学，而将护理学和社会工作等排除在外。只有这些项目符合20万美元的终身借款上限，其他高级项目则只能获得10万美元的终身上限。
The department had planned to implement a new rule on July 1 that would have limited professional degrees to 11 programs, including dentistry and medicine, while excluding others like nursing and social work. Only these programs would qualify for a $200,000 lifetime borrowing cap, while other advanced programs would receive a $100,000 lifetime cap.
教育部拟定的专业学位名单引发议员和倡导团体的抨击，他们表示，一些被排除在名单之外的项目需要更高的借款上限，以确保这些项目的学生获得充足资金。
The department's proposed list of professional degrees sparked pushback from lawmakers and advocates, who said some programs excluded from the list required higher borrowing caps to ensure sufficient funding for students in those programs.
上个月在俄勒冈州作出的裁决涉及自然疗法医学领域。原告包括自然疗法学院和学生，他们称，教育部决定将该领域排除在专业学位名单之外，可能迫使学生转向私人学生贷款，后者通常利率更高，且不符合联邦贷款减免计划资格。此外，自然疗法协会表示，如果学生因借款上限而选择不入学，上限规定可能损害收入。
The ruling in Oregon last month related to the naturopathic medicine field. The plaintiffs, including colleges and students in naturopathy, said that the department's decision to exclude the field from the professional degree list risked pushing students into private student loans, which often have higher interest rates and are ineligible for federal loan forgiveness programs. Additionally, naturopathy associations said the caps could harm revenue should students choose not to enroll due to the borrowing caps.
法官西蒙表示，上限对学生和学校造成的损害“迫在眉睫”，因为学生正在决定能否负担得起即将到来的学年入学费用。他对教育部拟定的“专业”定义发布初步禁令，并责令其使自然疗法医学符合更高借款上限的资格。
Simon, the judge, said the harms posed by the caps to both students and schools are "imminent" because students are deciding whether they can afford to enroll in the program for the coming academic year. He placed a preliminary injunction on the department's proposed definition of "professional" and ordered it to qualify naturopathic medicine for the higher borrowing limit.
该部门在联邦学生援助的一份通知中写道，鼓励学生联系所在学校，了解法院裁决对他们的影响。六月底，另一项法院裁决阻止了该部门关于专业学位缩小定义的生效。由于该裁决，该部门发布了一份更新后的30个项目名单，这些项目在诉讼进程中将有资格获得更高的借款限额。该部门当时表示，有信心该缩小的定义是“合法的，并将继续为其辩护”。有关于学生贷款的故事想分享吗？请联系这位记者，电子邮箱为asheffey@businessinsider.com。
The department wrote in a notice on Federal Student Aid that it encourages students to contact their school to see how the court ruling affects them. At the end of June, a separate court decision blocked the department's narrowed definition of a professional degree from taking effect. As a result of that ruling, the department released an updated list of 30 programs that would qualify for a higher borrowing limit as the litigation progresses. It said at the time that it's confident the narrowed definition is "lawful and will continue to defend it." Have a story to share about student loans? Contact this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.