Nursing no longer a professional degree under Trump’s Education Department

The U.S. Department of Education announced on Nov. 6 that it concluded rulemaking negotiations to make a host of substantial changes to student aid that were required by provisions in President Donald Trump’s budget law, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Before any final changes can be made, the department must create a draft in the Federal Register for public comment. 

While the text of the proposed rule has not yet been released, a department press release announced changes that include redefining which fields are classified as professional degrees and making major changes to student loan offerings and repayment plans. Before any final changes can be made, the department must publish a draft in the Federal Register for public comment. 

Trump’s law instructs the department to implement major student loan modifications with a focus on new borrowing limits, simplifying repayment, and capping loan amounts. 

The department’s new definition offers a narrow list of fields such as medicine, pharmacy, law, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, and theology, as professional degree programs, Associated Press reports. 

But, physician assistants, physical therapists, audiologists, architects, accountants, educators, social workers, and nurses are excluded. 

According to the eCFR Code of Federal Regulations, a professional degree is defined as “A degree that signifies both completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor’s degree. Professional licensure is also generally required.”

The department claims that it’s making these changes to keep student borrowers out of debt and to lower the cost of tuition. 

“The consensus language agreed upon by the negotiators today will help drive a sea change in higher education by holding universities accountable for outcomes and putting significant downward pressure on the cost of tuition,” Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said in a press release circulated on Nov. 6. “This will benefit borrowers who will no longer be pushed into insurmountable debt to finance degrees that do not pay off.” 

The department also announced it would end the Grad PLUS program, a student loan program for graduate and professional students; cap Parent PLUS Loans, federal loans for eligible parents of dependent undergraduate students; and create a new program titled the Repayment Assistance Plan, which will replace the existing income-driven repayment Saving on a Valuable Education plan created by former President Joe Biden’s administration.

Under the new plan, annual loans for new borrowers not defined as professional will be capped at $20,500 for graduate students and $50,000 for professional students. Whereas a student seeking a professional degree can borrow up to $50,000 a year, up to $200,000 total, according to Inside Higher Ed. 

“Previously, graduate students could borrow up to the cost of attendance, which led institutions to offer expensive graduate programs with a negative return on investment,” the Department of Education press release reads.

Antonia Villarruel, dean of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, told the American Independent, “The impact primarily of this bill is going to be on graduate loans, which affects nurse practitioners, midwives, women’s health providers, nurse anesthetists, and also doctorally prepared nurses, which are important for supporting the next generation.” 

As of 2024, according to the American Association of the Colleges of Nursing in 2024, there were 267,889 students enrolled in Bachelor of Science in nursing degree programs. 

“Nurses make up the largest segment of the healthcare workforce and the backbone of our nation’s health system,” Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association, said in a statement released on Nov. 10. 

“At a time when healthcare in our country faces a historic nurse shortage and rising demands, limiting nurses’ access to funding for graduate education threatens the very foundation of patient care,” Mensik Kennedy added. 

Villarruel explained that many of the students who enter graduate nursing programs do so that they may become primary care providers.

“They’re in there for the long haul,” Villarruel said. “If they’re assuming debt, it’s not because they’re going to in a high cost, no return area, they’re going into debt because they come out highly qualified and perhaps are not as paid as what they need to be paid. Those are issues in terms of federal funding and federal support for nurse practitioners and other providers as well. People should be paid for what they do, not because of the type of degree, and nurse practitioners are able to do many of the things that a physician does with the same safety component.”

New America reports that the Department is required to hear public comments about the proposal for at least 30-days before a final ruling is made. 

“I’m not sure that people recognize the skill and the education that’s necessary that comes along with compassionate care-based practice,” Villaruel said. “It’s the ability to know, deep understanding of chemistry, physiology, pharmacology. It’s a deep understanding of how the body works and how it interacts, and how it interacts not only within the body, but within the context. It’s a holistic approach to how people stay healthy and manage chronic and manage chronic illness,” she added.