Nation’s Largest Non-Institutional Funder of Women’s Graduate Education, Opposes New Federal Loan Rule

Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Education finalized the RISE rule implementing the Working Families Tax Cuts Act (previously known as the One Big Beautiful Bill), eliminating Graduate PLUS loans and replacing them with borrowing caps that take effect July 1, 2026.

Research submitted during the comment period found that only 5% of graduates in the most commonly awarded advanced degree fields qualify for the higher “professional” cap — leaving the vast majority of graduate students with limits that fall far short of actual costs. As the largest non-institutional funder of women’s graduate education in the United States, AAUW strongly opposes this rule.

AAUW CEO Gloria L. Blackwell issued the following statement:

For millions of women, graduate education is the bridge from a paycheck to real stability — and this rule just made that bridge harder to cross.

This rule restricts access to the one pathway that moves the needle most for the women who need it most. When we restrict borrowing without lowering costs, we don’t solve affordability. We narrow opportunity.

We are the largest non-institutional funder of women’s graduate education in this country. We submitted formal comments to this Department showing exactly what these caps will cost. They moved forward anyway. We will not stop funding these women, and we will not stop fighting for them.

AAUW was one of 86 organizations to submit formal coalition comments opposing this rule, submitted its own comments including cost-of-attendance analysis, and mobilized more than 1,500 individual member responses during the comment period. According to AAUW’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey data, a master’s degree increases earnings by more than 25% for Black women and 24% for Hispanic/Latina women, compared to just under 10% for white women — yet even with a master’s degree, Black women earn only 63 cents and Hispanic/Latina women 66 cents on the dollar compared to white non-Hispanic men with a master’s degree.

As the largest non-institutional funder of women’s graduate education in the United States, AAUW invested $5.5 million in 239 women scholars in 2025-26, and our fellowship application data shows that the women we serve are concentrated in exactly the programs subject to the lower borrowing limits. AAUW will continue to fund these women and fight for federal policy that expands, not restricts, their access to graduate education. Applications for the 2027-28 cycle open this fall. Read AAUW’s comment letter at aauw.org.

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AAUW (American Association of University Women) is one of the nation’s leading organizations for equity in higher education and women’s economic empowerment. Founded in 1881 by women who defied society’s conventions by earning college degrees, AAUW has since worked to increase women’s access, opportunity, and equity in higher education through research, advocacy, and philanthropy of over $146 million, supporting thousands of women scholars. Learn more at aauw.org.