Public anger has erupted after the Department of Education ruled that a widely studied college major will not be categorized as a “professional degree.”
Under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, students enrolled in programs considered “professional degrees” are eligible for up to $200,000 in federal student loans. All other degree paths are capped at $100,000.
One field notably excluded from the professional degree list is nursing — a decision that healthcare groups say could seriously harm both the workforce and the quality of patient care.
Across the U.S., more than 260,000 students are currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and another 42,000 are enrolled in Associate Degree in Nursing programs. Many fear the new rule will discourage future students, deepening the nationwide nurse shortage.
“Nurses are the backbone of America’s health care system,” Dr. Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association, told NewsNation.
“We are already short tens of thousands of nurses and advanced practice nurses. This will prevent people from entering nursing education, including those training the next generation.”
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing also criticized the decision, saying in a statement:
“Leaving nursing out of the professional degree category undermines decades of progress toward equality among health professions and contradicts the Department’s own definition that professional programs lead to licensure and hands-on practice.
If finalized, this proposal would be disastrous for an already strained nursing workforce.”
Ellen Keast, the Department of Education’s press secretary for higher education, defended the move, telling Newsweek:
“The Department has used the same definition of ‘professional degree’ for decades, and the current language aligns with that history. The committee — which included higher education institutions — agreed on the definition we are presenting.
We’re not surprised some institutions are complaining about rules that never existed simply because their ability to charge unlimited tuition to taxpayers has ended.”
According to the Department, fields that do qualify as professional degrees include: medicine, pharmacy, law, dentistry, osteopathic medicine, veterinary medicine, optometry, podiatry, chiropractic care, theology, and clinical psychology.
