New Report Maps $6.1 Billion Healthcare Workforce Financing Gap

The Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organizations (COHEAO) has released Mapping the Gap: The New Graduate and Professional Loan Caps & The Uneven Exposure Across Higher Education, a national report examining how new federal graduate and professional student loan limits may affect students, institutions, healthcare workforce preparation, and campus operations, according to a recent press release.

Starting July 1, 2026, new borrowers will no longer be eligible for Grad PLUS borrowing. Instead, they will be subject to new annual and aggregate federal loan limits. Generally, graduate programs will have an annual federal limit of $20,500 and an aggregate graduate borrowing limit of $100,000. However, programs that qualify as professional programs will have higher limits.

The report builds upon publicly accessible graduate and professional loan-limit data developed by the American University Postsecondary Education and Economics Research Center. This data is supplemented by Department of Education data for Academic Years 2021–2023. COHEAO employs this public baseline to analyze how potential financing pressure may differ across various program clusters, institution types, states, repayment environments, and response capacities.

Using COHEAO’s program-cluster framework, the report identifies patient-facing healthcare (PFHC) as the largest and most policy-relevant area of modeled exposure, accounting for approximately $6.1 billion, which is about 70 percent, under the report’s broad workforce definition. This category encompasses clinical healthcare, allied health, behavioral health, clinical social work, counseling and therapy, and related fields.

The PFHC concentration holds particular significance because many of these programs are closely associated with clinical and workforce preparation, yet they don’t always align seamlessly with federal loan-limit categories. COHEAO’s public-facing PFHC framework encompasses approximately $2.97 billion in core clinical healthcare exposure, around $1.56 billion in allied health exposure, and approximately $563.8 million in advanced and clinical nursing exposure.

“COHEAO’s members work directly with students and families navigating the financial realities of higher education every day. Many programs that communities rely on for clinical workforce preparation face new financing challenges under this new cap structure,” said Karen Reddick, COHEAO’s President. “Institutions will need clear communication, coordinated student support, and early planning to help students understand their options before financing questions become enrollment, persistence, or student-account issues.”

The report also reveals that exposure varies not only across programs but also within campus environments and response capacities. According to COHEAO’s working high-brand definition, approximately 166 institutions account for around $3.3 billion in modeled exposure. These institutions may have stronger alumni, employer, health-system, advancement, or institutional resources to support targeted responses. On the other hand, private nonprofit institutions with fewer than 5,000 undergraduate students account for approximately $1.9 billion in modeled exposure. This highlights the potential operational pressure smaller institutions may face if exposure is concentrated in a limited number of graduate or professional programs.

“The new caps should not be viewed as a uniform national shock, but as a localized transition,” said Wes Huffman, Strategic Advisor to COHEAO. “While the change creates distinct student-account and access pressures for some institutions, it also offers well-resourced campuses an opportunity to design proactive, targeted financing strategies.”

For institutions, the findings point to practical planning questions:

• Which programs have borrowing patterns above the new caps?
• Where could gaps show up as unpaid balances or larger payment plans?
• Are private loan options likely to be available on workable terms?
• What role could employers, alumni, foundations, or institutional partners play?

Repayment context and private-market capacity are crucial factors in the transition. While private and state-based education lenders may expand in response to the policy change, increased market capacity alone doesn’t guarantee access for students. Some students may struggle to find a creditworthy cosigner, face higher interest rates, be denied loans, or be discouraged from applying. Prepared with analytical and drafting support from Campus Access Partners, the report utilizes the GAP Index framework to organize exposure across various programs, institutions, states, repayment environments, credit conditions, and campus operations. This report serves as a practical planning resource for campuses and policymakers.

The initial report, released in conjunction with COHEAO’s Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., is part of a larger Mapping the Gap series. Following the conference, COHEAO anticipates the release of a companion analysis that delves into patient-facing healthcare programs. This analysis will provide further insights into clinical, allied health, behavioral health, and related workforce exposure, as well as the potential impact of professional-degree definitions on the exposure map.

Mapping the Gap is available at: https://coheao.org/mapping-the-gap/