After two days of talks, Department of Education officials have made it clear that they won’t budge over some new student loan regulations. Specifically, the department has said it won’t negotiate its proposed definition of a professional program, at least for now. If these programs were to be deemed professional, federal student loans would be capped at $50,000 a year and $200,000 over all. Higher ed experts say that heated debate over how to define professional versus graduate programs reflects how the loan caps are likely one of OBBBA’s most consequential changes for the sector. But the statutory definition from the Higher Education Act of 1965 includes a nonexhaustive list of examples; the department’s proposal is finite.