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Protect Graduate Nursing Education: Tell the Department of Education to Recognize Nursing as a Professional Degree

Posted 2 days ago

As the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) goes into effect, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is moving forward with changes that could dramatically limit how much graduate nursing students can borrow in federal loans.

Under current recommendations, nursing is excluded from the definition of “professional degree” programs—a decision that would cap federal loan amounts for graduate nursing students far below their peers in other professions.

> Sign the petition now to tell DOE: Nursing is a professional field and must be treated as such.
> Share your story about how funding has impacted your nursing education and practice.

What This Means for Nurses

Because nursing is not currently included in DOE’s proposed definition of “professional degree” programs, graduate nursing students—including registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs)—would face much lower borrowing limits:

  • Graduate loan caps (current nursing category):

    • $20,500 per year
    • $100,000 total

  • ‘Professional’ loan caps (proposed for other professions):

    • $50,000 per year
    • $200,000 total

This disparity would:

  • Make it significantly harder for nurses and APRNs to afford graduate education
  • Exacerbate existing workforce shortages by creating new financial barriers
  • Undervalue nursing compared with other health professions that are recognized as “professional degrees”

Background: How We Got Here

To implement OBBBA, the Department of Education convened the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee to engage in a process known as negotiated rulemaking. The committee was tasked with reaching consensus on how to:

  • Reduce overall graduate student loan debt
  • Address rising tuition costs
  • Set new caps on federal borrowing for graduate and professional degrees

Under the current proposal, only certain fields would qualify for higher “professional” loan caps. Nursing is not on that list.

Professions proposed to be included as ‘professional degrees’:

  • Pharmacy
  • Dentistry
  • Veterinary medicine
  • Chiropractic
  • Law
  • Medicine
  • Optometry
  • Osteopathic medicine
  • Podiatry
  • Theology

Nursing’s exclusion is likely tied to historical categorization. Beginning in the 1960s, graduate nursing programs were treated as strictly academic (focused on post-licensure specialization or research) rather than as first-professional entry pathways. At that time, “first-professional” degrees were reserved for post-baccalaureate programs where the degree itself granted entry into professional practice or licensure.

But that historical view no longer reflects reality. Today, advanced nursing degrees are central to:

  • Direct patient care and complex clinical decision-making
  • Meeting growing primary care, behavioral health, and specialty care needs
  • Leadership, education, and systems change within health care

Yet the regulatory definition has not caught up.

What Happens Next

The Department of Education is expected to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in early 2026, grounded in the recommendations from the RISE committee’s negotiated rulemaking.

When the NPRM is released:

  • A public comment period will open.
  • Individuals, organizations, and institutions will have a limited window to submit comments.
  • This will be a critical opportunity to urge DOE to include graduate nursing degrees in the “professional degree” definition and to align loan caps accordingly.

Your voice—alongside thousands of nurses, students, educators, and allies—will be essential.

> Add your name now so we can show DOE a united front when the comment period opens.

What We’re Doing

The American Nurses Association (ANA) is actively working to ensure that nursing is recognized as a professional field in this rulemaking process.

Advocacy & Formal Comments

  • ANA will submit formal comments to the Department of Education outlining:

    • Why graduate nursing degrees must be treated as professional degrees
    • How lower loan caps will harm the nursing workforce and patient care
    • The real-world financial impact on nursing students and APRNs

  • ANA will lead a multi-pronged advocacy campaign to:

    • Educate policymakers and stakeholders
    • Elevate the voices of nurses and nursing students
    • Mobilize grassroots action as key decision points arise

Coalition Work

ANA is not working alone. We are coordinating with a broad coalition of partners—both within and beyond the nursing community—to present a strong, unified response.

Already, two major coalitions ANA participates in have submitted letters urging DOE to include nurses and APRNs in the professional degree category:

These coalitions underscore a shared message: Nursing is indispensable to the health care system and must be treated accordingly in federal policy.

Nursing IS a Professional Degree

Nurses are the largest healthcare profession in the U.S., yet the Department of Education has proposed a definition of “professional degrees” that excludes nursing.

This move stems from an effort to rein in student loan debt and tuition costs as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. However, under the current proposal, graduate nursing students would only be eligible for about half the amount of federal loans that graduate medical students can access.

This is not just a technical distinction—it has real, human consequences:

  • It limits who can afford to pursue advanced nursing education
  • It deepens inequities in the nursing workforce
  • It undermines access to high-quality care, especially in underserved communities

Share Your Story: How Has Funding Impacted Your Nursing Path?

Stand up for nurses’ education and the nursing workforce—share how access to funding has impacted you and your nursing practice.

Your experiences can help decision-makers understand what’s at stake:

  • Did federal loans make your nursing or APRN education possible?
  • Have loan limits or costs delayed or prevented you from advancing your education?
  • How has your advanced training changed the care you provide and the communities you serve?

> Share your story and tell policymakers why nursing is a professional degree.

Instructions

  • Enter your information in the form.
  • Tell your story in your own words—why you chose nursing, how you financed your education, and what would have happened if you’d had less access to funding.

These stories will help members of Congress and federal agencies understand how vital nurses and nursing education pathways are to health care in the United States.

How You Can Help

Your engagement matters. Policymakers pay attention when they see large, organized, and sustained public concern.

  1. Sign the Petition
    > Tell DOE to recognize nursing as a professional degree.

  2. Share Your Story
    > Submit your story about how funding has shaped your nursing education and practice.

  3. Stay Informed
    We will continue to provide:

    • Updates on the NPRM timeline
    • Clear talking points you can use in your own comments
    • Tools to contact policymakers and amplify the message

  4. Spread the Word
    Share this page, the petition, and the story form with:

    • Fellow nurses and APRNs
    • Nursing students and faculty
    • Health care leaders and advocates

Our Commitment

ANA, together with Constituent/State Nurses Associations and coalition partners, is committed to:

  • Defending equitable access to graduate education for nurses
  • Ensuring policy reflects the modern reality of nursing as a complex, autonomous, professional discipline
  • Protecting the future nursing workforce our health care system depends on

Check back here for updates, talking points, and grassroots calls to action as this issue develops.

ANA's Informative Webpage HERE

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