Nursing And The Professional Degree: How Experts Say A New Government Rule Could Curtail Nursing Education

A U.S. Department of Education rule finalized April 30 could choke off funding for graduate nursing programs, including those that train nurse practitioners and other advanced practice nurses. The rule takes effect July 1, and it landed despite thousands of critical comments during the public comment period.

Here is the core of it. The department no longer classifies nursing as a "professional degree," the designation that determines how much federal funding graduate students can borrow. For students starting graduate nursing programs on or after July 1, 2026, federal borrowing is capped at $20,500 per year and $100,000 total. Fields that keep professional-degree status can borrow up to $50,000 a year and $200,000 total.

Created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and overseen by the department's Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee, the rule reserves the higher cap for these fields:

• Pharmacy
• Dentistry
• Veterinary medicine
• Chiropractics
• Law
• Medicine
• Optometry
• Osteopathic medicine
• Podiatry
• Theology
• Clinical psychology

Nursing was dropped, along with physician assistants, physical therapists, audiologists, accountants, educators, and social workers.

The department defends the change. In a November statement, it accused "certain progressive voices" of fear-mongering and said its data shows 95% of nursing students already borrow below the annual limit and so are unaffected by the new caps.

Critics counter that the students who are affected are exactly the ones the system can least afford to lose. Advanced practice training routinely exceeds $100,000, and a master's in a health-related field cost about $30,000 a year in 2019-2020 according to the National Center for Education Statistics, well above the $20,500 annual limit the rule allows.

"Americans should be very concerned about the impact of this proposal on patient care," said Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, president of the American Nurses Association. "Advanced practice nurses, including nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthesiologists, clinical nurse specialists, and certified nurse-midwives are board-certified and highly educated. In many communities, they provide access to patient care that would otherwise be unavailable."

The change hits hardest in places already short on nurses. "We are in a serious nursing and physician shortage that is forecasted to increase," said Karen O'Donnell Fountain, an ER nurse and director of clinical services for Ingenovis Health. "Advanced practice nurses are a key role in primary care settings and underserved areas of the country. Limiting educational resources is not serving the American people."

Pushback From Nurses and Lawmakers

The opposition is bipartisan. A letter signed by 140 lawmakers, including 12 Republicans, urged the department to reconsider. It cited the 2024 National Nursing Workforce Study, which found more than 138,000 nurses have left the workforce since 2022 because of stress, burnout, and retirement.

"The RISE Committee's proposed definition will make it more difficult for nurses to join the health care workforce because post-baccalaureate nursing degrees are excluded from the list of health care degrees in the definition of a 'professional degree,'" the letter stated.

The fight has since moved to the courts. In May 2026, a coalition of states sued to block the loan limits on nursing and other healthcare degrees, so the rule's future is not settled.

What Nurses Can Do Now

Some observers expect schools to cut costs to offset the caps and keep producing nurses. Vicki Huber, RN, MSN, chief nursing officer at Atlas Mobility, is skeptical.

"That's a good idea, but it's probably not realistic," Huber said. "Nursing programs are very expensive to run, requiring specialized equipment, clinical placements, expert faculty, and the resources to maintain accreditation standards that ensure patient safety."

Her advice is to stop relying on federal loans as the only plan. "Be strategic and research all available funding options: scholarships, loan forgiveness programs for underserved areas, employer partnerships, and service commitment programs," she said. "I've mentored countless nurses who've built remarkable careers using these pathways."