Nursing is a Profession and should be included in the Graduate PLUS loan program
- Famey Lockwood
- Dec 8, 2025
- 3 min read
Nursing is a Profession and should be included in the Graduate PLUS loan program
“Where does this leave you, the graduate student and your career?"
"The Trump administration has redefined the Nursing Profession saying that nursing isn't a profession and has set new limits on student loans" as quoted by The American Nurses Association, The Commission for Nurse Reimbursement and several news centers.
The Trump administration’s plan to redefine what constitutes a professional degree would exclude nursing and limit access to student loans to the Graduate PLUS loan program, aka Graduate Degrees. This change could make it more difficult for nursing students to secure funding for advanced degrees, potentially impacting the nursing workforce.
Previously, graduate students could borrow federal loans up to “the cost of their degree”, but under the new proposal, there would be caps on loans based on whether students are enrolled in a program that is considered professional or not.
Loan limits are capped at $50,000 per year, with a lifetime limit of $200,000, for professional degrees -- - this includes Advanced Nursing degrees.
You may be asking ... Why is this happening?
Depends on who you ask but, the answer ultimately is answered in President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)”.
Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent noted that “the change will put pressure on universities to lower their tuition, so students don’t have to go into “insurmountable debt to finance degrees.”
My take on this point >>> the cost of an education will not decrease because there are fewer funds and resources to pay for the education. Rather, the number of individuals with the opportunity to pay for advanced education will decrease – fewer people in the work force with advanced knowledge. Looking forward a few years, this also means fewer educators, fewer mentors, and potentially fewer “qualified nurses” in the workforce.
Reduced educational financing = fewer Nurses
The American Nurses Association said the groups most affected by the loan cap will be advanced practice nurses, including nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse midwives and certified registered nurse anesthesiologists
The change will impact hundreds of thousands of students—there are over 260,000 students currently enrolled in entry-level Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs and around 42,000 enrolled in Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), according to data collected by the American Nurses Association.
Fact: there is a "global" shortage of Nurses .... (read more here)
Not a Solution …
"At a time when health care in our country faces a historic nursing shortage and rising demands, limiting nurses' access to funding for graduate education threatens the very foundation of patient care,"
👩⚕️ Although the question of whether nursing is a profession may not be settled with the discussions for the OBBBA, the Nursing Profession possesses qualities that “entrust education to institutions of higher learning”.
👩⚕️ The American Nurses Association and other associated organization have established a code of ethics in which Nurses can practice and has a clear set of educational standards for continuing education.
👩⚕️ So, the discussion is particularly important for the Nurse seeking to increase the current level of education under which he or she practices.
To Do …
Contact your legislature representatives and let them know the seriousness of this event.
Sign the petition on the ANA website.
🏥RN☤ 🎓 Nursing is a Profession and should be included in the Graduate PLUS loan program.
RN☤🎓 🎩 🍽️ 🧑⚕️💗🌍 🎓 🎩 RN☤ 🍽️ 💗🌍 🎓 🎩 🧑⚕️🍽️ 💗🌍RN☤
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