Donald Trump’s New Bill Doesn’t Classify Nursing as a ‘Professional’ Degree for College Students, Sparking Outrage

Nursing is no longer classified as a “professional” degree under new federal student-loan rules rolled out by the Trump administration. Combined with a plan to end a major graduate loan program, the change is drawing sharp criticism from nursing organizations that warn it could make advanced nursing education far less affordable.

The U.S. Department of Education recently finalized a set of loan-related updates tied to President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” In early November, the department announced 17 agreed-upon regulatory provisions, including a revamped Repayment Assistance Plan and a revised definition of what counts as a professional student.

Two pieces of the update are at the center of the controversy:

1. Eliminating Grad PLUS loans. These loans, introduced in 2006, have allowed graduate and professional students to borrow beyond other aid up to the full cost of attendance. The department said the program “has fueled unsustainable student loan borrowing,” and intends to phase it out.
2. Narrowing the definition of “professional” degrees. Under the new rules, post-baccalaureate nursing programs are no longer included in the professional-degree category. According to USA Today and Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), this means nursing students in these programs will face lower borrowing caps. The changes are scheduled to take effect next summer.

Beginning in July 2026, annual federal borrowing limits for new students will be capped at $20,500 for graduate students (with a $100,000 lifetime limit) and $50,000 for professional students (with a $200,000 lifetime limit). Previously, graduate students could borrow up to their program’s full cost of attendance. The department said the older system encouraged schools to price graduate programs too high, sometimes leaving students with debt that did not match their earnings potential.

The professional-degree definition being used comes from a 1965 federal law. That statute describes a professional degree as one that qualifies someone for entry into a profession and requires skills beyond a typical bachelor’s program. While the law notes the list is not exhaustive, it gives examples such as pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, and law. Under the revised federal rules, nursing—along with degrees required for physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and physical therapists, per WPR—no longer falls under that category.

Nursing leaders argue the timing is especially risky. Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association, told NewsNation the decision could deepen an already serious national nursing shortage. She said limiting access to loans could discourage nurses from pursuing advanced training, including the graduate credentials needed to teach and expand the workforce.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) echoed that concern in a statement and urged Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Under Secretary Nicholas Kent to reconsider. The group said excluding nursing from the professional-degree definition and tightening loan access could severely weaken the pipeline of future nurses and nurse educators.

After the policy changes drew headlines, Ellen Keast, the Department of Education’s press secretary for higher education, dismissed much of the coverage as inaccurate. In a statement to Newsweek, she said the department has relied on a consistent definition of professional degrees for decades and that a committee—including higher-education institutions—agreed to the language now being advanced. She added that some schools are objecting because the new limits curb what she described as unchecked tuition increases supported by federal lending.

With the new caps and the planned end of Grad PLUS loans approaching, nursing students and schools are now bracing for a major shift in how advanced nursing education can be financed—and whether those financial barriers will shrink or stall the next generation of the nursing workforce.