Pushback is mounting against new federal student-loan reforms passed under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with lawmakers warning the policy could further strain the nursing workforce.
In a Dec. 12 letter to Nicholas Kent, the undersecretary of education, a bipartisan group of more than 140 members of Congress urged officials to reconsider how advanced nursing programs are classified under the new rules.
The changes eliminated the Grad PLUS program and created new lifetime borrowing caps. Under the legislation, professional degree students can borrow up to $200,000, but the Education Department’s proposed definition of such a degree would not include nursing, subjecting graduate nursing students to a lower $100,000 lifetime cap. The definition was adopted during a rulemaking session in early November in which a department-convened advisory committee reached consensus on the legislation’s student loan provisions.
The Education Department plans to draft a proposed rule reflecting the committee’s recommendation and release it for public comment, with a final rule expected in 2026.
In the letter, lawmakers said not including post-baccalaureate nursing degrees from the professional category could limit access to advanced training programs and further harm staffing shortages, especially in primary care, anesthesia and rural health settings.
They argued that advanced nursing programs require licensure and meet the department’s own criteria for professional degrees, and warned that lower borrowing limits could discourage enrollment and restrict the pipeline of advanced practice nurses.
“Classifying these programs as graduate programs would result in these students having to take out additional student loans to cover the remainder of their tuition, which will limit the ability for students to complete their advanced degree,” the letter said. “At a time when our nation is facing a healthcare shortage, especially in primary care, now is not the time to cut off the student pipeline to these programs.”
