Nursing Excluded as ‘Professional’ Degree By Department of Education
Chaunie Brusie
November 20, 2025
Key Takeaways
Graduate nursing students will lose access to higher federal loan limits previously available to professional degree programs.
Nursing students will be excluded from certain loan forgiveness programs reserved for professional degrees.
These changes create significant financial obstacles for students pursuing advanced nursing education.
The U.S. Department of Education has officially excluded nursing in its recently revamped definition of “professional degree” programs. This change occurs as part of the implementation of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) and has nursing organizations nationwide raising alarms.
Currently, the new measures are scheduled to be implemented starting July 1, 2026.
