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

Nursing is no longer considered a “professional” degree under the Trump administration. The change, along with the elimination of a longstanding loan program for graduate and professional students, has sparked outrage from several nursing organizations.

As part of the U.S. Department of Education’s new federal student loan-related changes under President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” nursing has been excluded from the group of programs that are considered “professional” degrees, and a loan program for graduate students has been marked for elimination.

The changes have created new fears about how students, and particularly students seeking post-baccalaureate nursing degrees, will finance their education — and several organizations have already voiced their disapproval and concern at the updates.

In early November, the department made several alterations that impact federal student loans, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Education. “In total, negotiators reviewed and agreed to 17 regulatory provisions,” per the release, including a “new and simplified” Repayment Assistance Plan and “the definition of a professional student.”

The department also shared plans to eliminate Grad PLUS loans, which help graduate and professional students pay for education-related expenses not covered by other financial aid, and cap Parent PLUS Loans, which are specifically given to parents of undergraduate students. In the release, the department explained the decision to end the Grad PLUS program, which was first introduced in 2006, by stating that it “has fueled unsustainable student loan borrowing.”

The Department of Education has also changed the definition of “professional” degrees. The umbrella will no longer include nursing post-bacc programs, which means those seeking the degree will have to follow new borrowing limits, according to USA Today and Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR). (The changes will go into effect next summer.)

“Beginning in July 2026, the OBBBA caps annual loans for new borrowers at $20,500 for graduate students ($100,000 aggregate limit), and $50,000 for professional students ($200,000 aggregate limit) – a term the committee defined consistent with existing regulatory text,” the Department of Education said in the news release. “Previously, graduate students could borrow up to the cost of attendance, which led institutions to offer expensive graduate programs with a negative return on investment.”

The umbrella of “professional” degrees redefined under the newly instated changes stems from a 1965 federal law, per USA Today. According to the outlet, the decades-old legislation defines a “professional degree” as one that “signifies both completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor’s degree.”

Though it clarifies that the list is not exhaustive, the 1965 law also lists several examples, including pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic and law, per USA Today.

With nursing — and degrees required to become a physician assistant, nurse practitioner and physical therapy, per WPR — now excluded from this definition, and Grad PLUS loans eliminated altogether, students seeking careers in these fields will see drastic changes to the amount of federal loans they can borrow.

Reacting to the news, Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association, spoke with NewsNation about how the changes will affect the already “looming nursing shortage” in the U.S.

“I don’t know why we would take this away,” Kennedy told the outlet. “So we have a looming nursing shortage even greater than before. So this is going to stop nurses from going to school to be teachers for other nurses.”

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) has also released a statement about the changes and urged Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent to reconsider adding nursing under the umbrella of professional degrees in a letter.

“AACN is deeply concerned by the Department of Education’s decision to move forward with a proposed definition of professional degree programs that excludes nursing and significantly limits student loan access,” the organization wrote in a statement. “Should this proposal be finalized, the impact on our already-challenged nursing workforce would be devastating.”

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After backlash to the changes made headlines, Ellen Keast, the Department of Education’s press secretary for higher education, called reporting on the situation “fake news” in a statement shared with Newsweek.

“This is fake news at its finest. The Department has had a consistent definition of what constitutes a professional degree for decades and the consensus-based language aligns with this historical precedent,” Keast said. “The committee, which included institutions of higher education, agreed on the definition that we will put forward in a proposed rule. We’re not surprised that some institutions are crying wolf over regulations that never existed because their unlimited tuition ride on the taxpayer dime is over.”