Nursing Excluded from Professional Degree Status, Igniting Concerns

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Education has announced that nursing will not be classified as a “professional degree” under the new definitions set forth in President Donald Trump‘s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” This change has raised significant concerns among nursing organizations regarding its impact on student loan access and the future of nursing education.

The exclusion of nursing from the definition of professional degrees means that nursing students will not qualify for higher loan limits that are available to those entering traditional professional fields such as medicine and law. Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association, stated, “At a time when healthcare faces a historic nurse shortage, limiting nurses’ access to funding for graduate education threatens the very foundation of patient care.”

Under the revised regulations, only graduates of specific programs including medicine, pharmacy, and law will benefit from annual borrowing limits of up to $50,000 and a lifetime cap of $200,000. In contrast, graduate nursing students will be limited to annual loans of $20,500 and total borrowings capped at $100,000.

Ellen Keast, press secretary for higher education at the Department of Education, defended the decision, calling criticism “fake news” and asserting, “The Department has had a consistent definition of what constitutes a professional degree for decades.” Keast emphasized that the new definitions were a result of extensive consultations with educational institutions.

This regulatory shift affects over 260,000 students currently enrolled in Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and approximately 42,000 in Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs, according to the American Nurses Association. Many fear the change will lead to a significant reduction in nursing graduates and exacerbate the ongoing shortage of healthcare providers.

Olga Yakusheva, a nursing professor at Johns Hopkins University, warned that the inability to access sufficient funding for advanced nursing degrees like the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) could lead to fewer nurses equipped to take on leadership roles and provide essential patient care. She said, “With a cap on federal student loans, fewer nurses will be able to afford graduate nursing education,” furthering the crisis in healthcare.

Patricia Pittman, director of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute at George Washington University, described the ruling as a “gut punch for nursing,” stating that it undermines efforts to retain licensed nurses in the field. This is especially concerning for rural and underserved communities that rely heavily on advanced practice registered nurses.

The Department of Education plans to implement these changes starting July 1, 2026, leaving many potential nursing students in limbo about their educational futures.