New caps on federal student loans are intended to limit student debt and pressure higher education to lower costs, but that could cause unintended consequences and ultimately worsen a shortage of physicians in Kansas and nationwide.
The limits went into effect earlier this summer as part of the Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.
In response, medical organizations raised an alarm, saying the limits do not align with the financial realities of medical education. This could lead to fewer people finishing medical school, or turning to private loans to make up the difference.
Those groups warn that it could especially hurt rural areas like much of Kansas, which have a more difficult time attracting new physicians.
Federal loans are capped at $50,000 per year for professional degree programs including medicine and law, with the four-year limit totalling $200,000. Other graduate loan programs are capped at $20,500 with the four-year limit at $100,000.
For medical students like Elsa Spencer in Wichita, her tuition at the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, or KansasCOM, costs around $65,000. She’s had to take out private loans to make up the difference.
“I've been having to learn a lot more about that and how to budget my money,” Spencer said.
The changes directly impact first year medical students like Spencer, who don’t have time for a job to cover the difference.
“Medical school is a full-time job plus studying,” she said.
Another big change in the law affected the PLUS loan program, which helps offer graduate loans to cover whatever the federal student aid doesn’t pay. It now only applies to students who were grandfathered into the program, not first time students like Spencer.
“And then that also doesn't account for the cost of attendance,” Spencer said. “It also has the cost of living for where you're living, your food and travel.”
At KansasCOM, 90% of the students from Kansas are taking out loans to afford their education, said Dr. Richard Winslow, the school’s senior associate dean for student affairs.
“Students who are most affected by the private loan issues are students who are first generation college students and first generation medical students — as well as students from low socioeconomic categories,” Winslow said.
Winslow said the federal loan limits mean students have to turn to private loans. Some students would require a co-signer. If their parents don’t have a high enough credit score to get the loan, it will result in some tough choices.
“So then it becomes a question about do I stay in medical school or do I not stay in medical school?” he said.
Marc Hahn is the President and CEO of Kansas City University, a medical school in Kansas City, Missouri. He recently wrote an opinion article for The Hill about the problem.
“At the very moment our nation needs more doctors, federal policy may be making it more difficult for talented young people to become one,” he wrote.
During an interview with the Kansas News Service about his opinion article, Hahn acknowledged the attempt by legislators to control tuition growth.
“Tuition costs have grown larger than the consumer price index in some regions,” he said.
While student loan limits are capped, Hahn said the cost of living isn’t.
"A landlord is not necessarily going to cap their rent,” said Hahn. “The grocery store is not going to cap the cost of eggs just because they're students or cap the cost of gasoline.”
And that decision could exacerbate the already growing physician workforce shortage, especially in rural areas of Kansas.
Dr. Bethany Enoch runs several medical student programs in southeast Kansas for the University of Kansas.
She’s worried these loan limits will impact lower-paid positions, like primary care physicians in rural areas.
“If now we have even more costs associated with more challenging loans, I think it's possible that will compound the problem of the shortage of primary care physicians and especially in rural America,” Enoch said.
For students like Spencer, she’s worried these challenges will cause future doctors to consider other career paths.
“We need more physicians that are able to really care for people. But now having these different barriers will affect this new generation of doctors,” Spencer said.
Rachel Schnelle reports on Missouri and Kansas issues for KRPS.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KRPS, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio.
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