Lawmakers say advanced nursing should count as a ‘professional degree’
Sydney Halleman
December 18, 2025
A group of lawmakers is pushing back on proposed regulatory language that would limit federal student loans for graduate nursing programs to $100,000.
Dive Brief:
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A bipartisan group of lawmakers is advocating for the U.S. Department of Education to classify graduate nursing degrees as “professional degrees” in response to potential regulatory language that would place a lower limit on how much advanced nursing students could borrow.
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Under a proposed framework, advanced nursing programs would be classified as “graduate degrees” rather than “professional degrees,” which would cap student loans for new nursing borrowers at $100,000 total, rather than the higher limit of $200,000 that will be in place for professional programs.
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In a letter sent to Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent on Friday, lawmakers said the framework could exacerbate an existing worker shortage in the industry. “At a time when our nation is facing a health care shortage, especially in primary care, now is not the time to cut off the student pipeline to these programs,” the letter said.
