The American Nurses Association and nine other national nursing organizations sued the Education Department on May 29, challenging the exclusion of advanced nursing degrees from the federal definition of “professional degree” under a final rule that caps graduate and professional student loans and takes effect July 1.
Seven things to know:
1. The American Nurses Association; the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology; the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses; the American College of Nurse-Midwives; the American Holistic Nurses Association; the Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses; Chi Eta Phi Sorority; the Health Ministries Association; the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists; and the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The suit names the Education Department and Education Secretary Linda McMahon as defendants.
2. The Reimagining and Improving Student Education rule, which the department finalized April 30 and published in the Federal Register on May 1 — takes effect July 1 and carries out provisions of HR 1, signed into law in July 2025. It caps federal loans for graduate and professional students and sets formal definitions for “graduate student” and “professional student,” with direct implications for how much some healthcare students can borrow. Graduate students face a $20,500 annual cap ($100,000 aggregate), while professional students can borrow up to $50,000 a year ($200,000 aggregate). Under the framework, several healthcare fields — including physician assistants and some advanced practice nurses — were classified as graduate programs and subject to the lower limit.
3. The nursing organizations contend the rule’s definition of “professional student” wrongly excludes advanced nursing students, contradicts HR 1’s statutory definition and violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
4. The organizations argue the Education Department disregarded the role advanced practice and graduate-prepared nurses play across the U.S. healthcare system, and that the policy erects financial barriers for current and future nurses amid persistent workforce shortages. “The Department of Education ignored the voices of nurses and nurse allies who spoke out against this rule throughout their rulemaking process,” Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, RN, president of the American Nurses Association, said in a news release. “Increasing barriers to post-baccalaureate nursing education doesn’t just limit opportunities and access to education, it limits patients’ access to timely care from trusted, highly trained practitioners.”
5. The Education Department has defended the rule as a way to rein in graduate borrowing and protect taxpayers, noting that graduate students hold more than a third of federal student loan debt. “The Trump Administration is focused on putting students and taxpayers first, which is why we are implementing durable policies to make higher education more affordable,” Undersecretary of Education Nicholas Kent said April 30 in announcing the rule. In the rule itself, the department acknowledged that the nursing degrees at issue “appear to satisfy” the law’s three-part test for a professional degree but said they fall short of the “contextual requirements” set by the statute’s list of named professions, in part because some states require physician supervision of advanced practice nurses.
6. In a statement to Becker’s, Education Department Press Secretary Ellen Keast said colleges and universities have been able to raise tuition for decades while many borrowers have seen little return on their investment. Ms. Keast said the administration is working to address rising tuition costs and student debt by ending a system that pushed students into debt they often could not repay and promoting access to high-quality education. She also pointed to several universities that have reduced tuition or expanded scholarship opportunities following the administration’s announcement of the new loan limits.
7. Medical groups opposed the rule throughout the rulemaking process. When the rule was proposed, several health systems urged the department to reconsider, citing workforce and financial strain, and more than 75 health systems and organizations formed a national coalition. Industry associations warned the changes could limit access to education and deepen workforce shortages.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on June 2.
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