WASHINGTON — A coalition of nurses and other health care organizations is outraged by a Trump administration proposal that could limit access to federal loans for some students pursuing advanced degrees because the government would no longer call their studies “professional” programs.
Without such permission from the U.S. Department of Education, students pursuing degrees in nursing and at least seven other fields, including social work and education, would face tougher federal student loan restrictions.
The renovation is part of Trump's “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress and is causing anger and confusion, especially among nurses, who are lashing out online. Some social media posts contained inaccurate information about the changes, prompting the Department of Education to release the message. “myth vs fact” explainer about the proposed changes.
But it did little to quell the furor. Nurses and others affected not only oppose potential restrictions on educational borrowing to advance their careers, but also perceive the move as a semantic insult that disrespects the intensive training required to achieve their professional qualifications.
One Instagram user – a registered nurse, as she calls herself with more than 250,000 followers on the platform—said she planned to go to graduate school to become a nurse practitioner, but proposed credit restrictions could make that out of reach. “They don't want us to continue our education,” she said. “They want women to be barefoot and pregnant.”
Susan Pratt, a nurse who is also president of the nurses union in Toledo, Ohio, called the move a “slap in the face.”
“Nurses showed up during the pandemic, and that’s our gratitude,” she said.
The Education Department did not respond to requests for comment on the proposed rule changes. But his explainer said “progressive voices” were “fear-mongering” about the changes and spreading “misinformation”.
The Trump administration has said caps on graduate student loans are needed to lower tuition costs and believes capping student loans will encourage universities that charge above-average tuition to consider lowering rates.
What is considered a “professional” program?
While graduate students previously could take out loans up to the cost of their degree, the new rules will set limits based on whether the degree is considered a diploma or professional program. For programs without a “professional” designation, students will be limited to borrowing $20,500 per year and up to a total of $100,000.
Students in a certain vocational program will be able to borrow $50,000 per year and up to $200,000 in total.
To determine what qualifies as a vocational program, the department looked to a 1965 law governing student financial aid. The law includes several examples of professional degrees, but says it is not an exhaustive list. The Trump administration's proposal, by contrast, states that only those degrees specified in the new regulation can be considered professional programs.
The Department of Education will designate the following areas as professional programs: pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, and theology.
Left out are nursing, physiotherapy, oral health, occupational therapy and social work, as well as non-health fields such as architecture, education and accounting.
As of 2022, one in six registered nurses in the country had a master's degree, according to the American Association. Colleges of Nursing.
The federal fact sheet notes that “professional degree” is just an internal definition it uses “to distinguish between programs that are eligible for higher credit limits.” This “is not a value judgment about the importance of programs… It has nothing to do with whether the program is professional in nature or not.”
The federal rules take effect in July, but the Education Department could still change them after a public comment period.
Nurse leaders decry change
Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association, condemned the proposed changes, saying they would worsen an already painful shortage of advanced practice nurses, whose positions require advanced degrees. Among them are nurse practitioners who can diagnose illnesses and write prescriptions.
“Nurse practitioners provide the largest volume of primary care services in the United States,” she said. “Right now we have a shortage of primary health care. And we're going to continue [to have one]. Now we're not going to completely allow nurse practitioners to get the funding they need.”
Kennedy said the new rules would make the situation worse. California and the nationwide nursing shortage because in most cases a doctorate is required to train other nurses.
“We are short more than 2,000 nurse educators in the United States,” she said. “So it has a downward spiral effect.”
But the Department of Education Myth vs fact worksheet released Monday, claims its data shows that “95% of nursing students take out loans below the annual loan limit and are therefore unaffected by the new restrictions.”
“In addition, imposing a loan cap will encourage remaining graduate nursing programs to reduce the costs of their programs by ensuring that nurses are not saddled with unmanageable student loan debt,” the department said.
Kennedy said it will be very difficult for graduate nursing programs to cut costs because they focus on hands-on training. “I'm not really sure where nursing schools should be cut because faculty are already underpaid and the workload is at a point where it's a matter of public safety in training new nurses,” she said.
Lin Zhan, dean of the Joe Q. Wen School of Nursing at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the proposed changes were “deeply concerning” and called on policymakers to reject them.
“We cannot afford to create barriers that limit entry and growth in this important profession, and any policy changes must prioritize expanding access and empowering professional nurses to practice with knowledge and compassion,” Zhang said. “Advanced nurses play a critical role in healthcare… Their expertise is vital, especially as care becomes more complex and patient needs increase.”
The coalition of health organizations also called on the Department of Education to change course and noted that the excluded areas are largely filled by women. According to a 2019 U.S. Census Bureau report, women made up about three-quarters of full-time and year-round health care workers in the U.S. and accounted for a much higher share in positions such as dentists and physician assistants.
Deborah Trautman, President of the American Association. Colleges of Nursing said in a statement to The Times that “lowering the federal student loan limit for nurses pursuing master's and doctoral degrees will likely discourage many from continuing their education.”
“However, nurses trained at this level are essential to the workforce—as advanced practice nurses, educators, researchers and clinical experts,” she said.
Associated Press reporters Colleen Binkley and John Seaver contributed to this story.
