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In April,  I had the privilege of leading Nevada's delegation to Washington, DC. The delegation, which included PTs representing all four Congressional Districts as well as students from UNLV DPT and TUN DPT, met with staff from all of Nevada's Federal legislators, including Rep. Dina Titus and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto themselves. We discussed urgent issues involving Federal student loan limits, rural healthcare, and Medicare payment reform.

While our conversations were productive and well-received, the pace of cosponsor recruitment has been slower than we had hoped. The current congressional environment is a significant factor. Republican lawmakers remain deeply divided over how to fill the legislative agenda, making it increasingly difficult to move bills outside of must-pass priorities. At the same time, Senate Republicans do not hold the filibuster-proof 60-vote majority necessary to pass most contentious legislation, meaning bipartisan support is essential for the bills we are championing, and compromise between the two parties has been difficult to achieve in the current political climate. With Democrats in the minority, their ability to drive cosponsor momentum is limited without Republican buy-in.

A Serious New Threat to the PT Pipeline: The RISE Rule
Compounding the challenges on Capitol Hill is a damaging regulatory decision from the Department of Education. The Department has finalized a rule that will significantly restrict federal student loan borrowing for future students pursuing a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at a time of nationwide health care workforce shortages and rising demand for physical therapist services.
The rule stems from the Department's Reimagining and Improving Student Education, or RISE, Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. The committee recommended narrowing the definition of a "professional degree" to just 11 fields (excluding physical therapy entirely) subjecting DPT students to a lower annual borrowing cap of $20,500 and a $100,000 aggregate limit. To put that in context, the average cost of attendance for a DPT program ranges between $108,212 and $126,034 before living expenses, fees, and other costs. The gap between what students can borrow federally and what a DPT education actually costs is not a rounding error, it is a potential barrier to entry for the next generation of our workforce.
APTA has expressed deep concern that the Department failed to meaningfully consider the thousands of public comments submitted against this rule, including clear evidence that the DPT degree meets the federal definition of a professional degree. APTA has been leading a coordinated national advocacy campaign on this issue since August 2025, joining coalitions of more than 40 national provider organizations, and mobilizing more than 35,000 member emails to Congress urging intervention.
With the rule now finalized, APTA is calling on both Congress and the courts to restore fair access to federal student loans while continuing to support meaningful reforms that lower the cost of education. This matters to every one of us, not just to students currently in DPT programs. If the pipeline of future PTs and PTAs narrows because the financial barrier to entry becomes insurmountable, the workforce shortage our patients already feel will only deepen. This is a patient access issue as much as it is a student issue

In short: Congress is consumed, divided, and operating under significant political pressure heading into a midterm election cycle. Our bills are not forgotten, they are competing for oxygen in a very crowded room.

This is precisely why sustained advocacy matters. Every meeting we held, every story we told about our patients, plants a seed. Cosponsors come when members hear from enough constituents that an issue cannot be ignored.

**You can help right now.** APTA's advocacy action center makes it simple to send a message directly to your representatives in minutes. The more Nevada voices they hear, the stronger our case becomes.

Questions about federal legislative priorities or how to get involved? Reach out directly @ Nicole.Lang.DPT@gmail.com

Nicole Lang PT, DPT