The SBA has increased the small business size standard for the real estate,  rental and leasing, educational services and health care and social assistance sectors.

Size standards define the maximum size a firm can be and still be considered a small business, the SBA said.

Within the real estate and rental and leasing sector, the most common current size standard for businesses in the category ranged from $2 million to $34.5 million. The new standard now ranges from $7 million to $35.5 million.

The SBA said more than 13,000 additional firms will qualify as small under these new size standards and become eligible for the agency's loan and federal procurement programs.

The size standard for the educational services sector has also been raised from $7 million to between $10 million and $25.5 million. More than 1,500 additional businesses will qualify under the SBA's guidelines.

Within the health care and social assistance sectors, the previous standard ranged between $7 million to $34.5 million. The new size standard ranges between $10 million and $34.5 million. The SBA said more than 4,100 additional firms will qualify as small under these new size standards.

The agency is currently seeking comments on increasing the size standards for businesses in the finance and insurance sectors.