A Trump administration proposal to exclude nursing from the list of professional degrees eligible for higher student loan limits is facing backlash from nursing advocates, who warn it could worsen the nation's nurse shortage by restricting access to education. The new policy, part of the GOP-backed law known as the "one big, beautiful bill," sets a $50,000 annual and $200,000 lifetime cap on federal loans for students in designated professional degree programs beginning July 1, 2026, per CBS News. Nursing, however, isn't included on that list. Instead, nursing students and those in other programs not deemed "professional" would face a much lower cap: $20,500 per year and $100,000 total.
Advocates argue that excluding nursing from the professional degree category could discourage students from entering the field at a time when the US is already struggling with a shortage. "That means there will be less of these professionals joining the workforce," says Kim Litwack, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Nursing. Others warn that the change could hit rural communities and primary care/hospital settings the hardest. The American Nurses Association, meanwhile, calls the exclusion nonsensical, with President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy saying she hopes the Department of Education will revise the definition before the rule is finalized.
"This is devastating," she tells CNN. The Education Department says the proposal aims to protect borrowers from taking on too much debt for degrees that may not lead to sufficient financial returns, per CBS. It also claims 95% of nursing students won't be affected by the cap, and that current students will be grandfathered into existing limits. The Independent notes that nursing wasn't the only job that didn't make the cut: Social workers, accountants, audiologists, physical therapists, physician assistants, architects, and educators are also left out of the proposed "professionals" designation.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
