H.R. 6677: Professional Degree Access Restoration Act

H.R. 6677, the Professional Degree Access Restoration Act, is a short repeal bill. Its stated purpose is to reverse the cuts to federal loan availability for graduate and professional students made by Public Law 119–21, the budget reconciliation law signed in July 2025.

That law made two changes for students who start borrowing on or after July 1, 2026. It ended Grad PLUS loans, which had let graduate students borrow up to the full cost of attendance. And it set new caps on federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans: $20,500 a year and $100,000 total for graduate students, and $50,000 a year and $200,000 total for professional students in fields like medicine, law, and dentistry.

H.R. 6677 deletes the June 30, 2026 cutoff for Grad PLUS and strikes the new caps, so students entering graduate or professional school would again be able to borrow federally up to the cost of attendance. It doesn't create a new program, set new interest rates, or add funding. It removes the text the 2025 law added and restores the prior structure.

The gap is easiest to see with a program that costs more than the cap. A hypothetical professional program with an $80,000 annual cost of attendance leaves a $30,000 gap each year under a $50,000 federal limit, or $120,000 over four years. Under current law, that money has to come from savings, family, or private loans, which usually require a credit check and lack federal protections like income-driven repayment. Under H.R. 6677, federal loans could cover it.