11/26/2025
My two cents on the recent discussion regarding Nursing as a profession, from an actively practicing Registered Professional Nurse for over 42 years (and an Advanced Practice Nurse for over 35 years). You will notice I am using the title Registered Professional Nurse. This is because that is what each and every one of my Nursing licenses have said for the past 42 years. I am licensed, in fact, by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. So yes, I am a professional, and I don’t think anyone is disputing that. If I include them all, my full list of credentials includes PhD, MSN, BSN, RNC-NPT, APN/NNP-BC, APN/CCNS-N. So I might have an opinion or two about this. If you’re not up for hearing them, please at least click on the link I am including in this post, and consider signing the petition (I swear, it’s a much shorter read).
While Nursing was never explicitly listed as a professional degree under the Higher Education Act of 1965, the Act provided federal funding for university-based students. So we were always included under the umbrella of being eligible for federally-funded grants and loans, and many Nurses, some retired, and some still practicing today, benefitted from those programs (and hence, so did their patients). This new Bill explicitly omits Nursing degrees, specifically Advanced Practice Nursing degrees such as Master's or Doctorate level degrees, from being eligible for the higher loan limits that will continue to be available to other post-baccalaureate degrees including MD, DDS, and JD, just to name a few (there are actually 11 total).
So while it’s true that the new Bill does not state that Nurses are not professionals, it does cap the monies available to Nurses seeking higher degrees. The new Bill, set to affect loans distributed after July 1, 2026, will not impact undergraduate students, who will still be able to borrow up to $7500 per year. However, graduate students seeking degrees not listed under the category of ‘professional programs’ will be limited to borrowing up to $20,500 per year, or $100,000 total for their graduate studies. Those seeking degrees listed under the category of ‘professional programs’ can borrow up to $50,000 a year, or $200,000 total.
That means that under the new Bill, Nurses will be able to borrow only half of what those whose degrees are listed as a ‘professional degree’ can borrow (trust me, I’m fully aware that that’s probably a good thing). So the vast majority of Nurses looking to advance their education to practice in an Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) role (this includes Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Midwife, and Nurse Anesthetist) will likely have less opportunities to seek out those roles by obtaining the required education. Or, in the alternative, they will be forced to seek out private loans, often at higher interest rates, to help fund their education. And it’s not just Nurses. Social Workers, Speech Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Physician Assistants, and even Teachers, all of whom are required to hold advanced degrees, will be affected by this change.
Now, in the spirit of point-counterpoint, there is much discussion out there saying that these caps on federally-funded student loans are necessary and will force colleges and universities to lower their tuition costs to keep them within reach of those depending on these loans. That may be true. But change doesn’t happen overnight. For Nurses especially, we are running out of time. According to a 2024 report by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the median age of Nurses in the U.S. is 46, and more than 25% of those surveyed plan to retire in the next five years. Many Nurses and other healthcare professionals left their professions during and after COVID. Making higher education less obtainable for a large proportion of the healthcare workforce will only worsen the shortages we are seeing today. It’s a broken system, that’s for sure. But excluding Nursing and other vital health care specialties from access to higher education by limiting their access to these federally-funded loans will only worsen the health care crisis we are already experiencing.
The future of healthcare is uncertain, at best. And that affects all of us. I implore you to please sign the petition, and please share this with everyone you know and love. You don’t need to be a health care professional to sign.
https://ana.quorum.us/campaign/professionaldegreepetition/
Add your name to the petition for nursing to be included in the definition of 'professional degree' programs.
