US nursing students face new financial barriers after the Department of Education excluded their courses from the ‘professional degree’ category under a sweeping overhaul of federal loan programmes. The reclassification, which significantly lowers the borrowing cap for postgraduate nursing studies, has drawn sharp criticism from industry leaders who warn it will deepen the nation’s healthcare workforce crisis. Nurse Courses Not A ‘Professional Degree’ Anymore The legislation, titled the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’, eliminates the Grad PLUS loans that many students have relied on to pay for postgraduate study and replaces them with a tighter system of caps and categories. Under the new rules, only students on recognised ‘professional degree’ tracks can access the highest loan limit of approximately £157, 000, while everyone else studying at graduate level is restricted to roughly £78, 000 in total borrowing. The exclusion of nursing means thousands of trainee nurses will have to finance years of expensive clinical education within that lower ceiling or abandon their plans altogether. At the same time, the bill delivers more than £1. 2 trillion ($1. 5 trillion) in tax cuts for the wealthiest 5 per cent of Americans, a contrast that has drawn criticism from healthcare unions. For working-class and first-generation students in particular, the American Nursing Association (ANA) warns that the new borrowing limits will act as a significant barrier to advanced training, closing off pathways into specialist roles that communities urgently need. With nurse shortages already running into the tens of thousands across the country, unions argue the law reads less like a technical funding fix and more like a policy detrimental to the future of the profession. Why Fewer Students in Nursing Courses Threatens Patient Care The ANA has warned that this change will impact patient outcomes as well as student finances. In a strongly worded letter, association President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy stated that excluding nursing will ‘severely restrict access to critical funding for graduate nursing education, undermining efforts to grow and sustain the nursing workforce. ‘ She argued that at a time of a ‘historic nurse shortage’, the move threatens the ‘very foundation of patient care’. Experts note this is particularly dangerous for rural and underserved communities. In many parts of the country, advanced practice registered nurses are the primary, and sometimes only, source of essential healthcare. By making it harder for these nurses to access the graduate-level training they need, the policy risks cutting off access to care for the most vulnerable populations, turning a student finance issue into a public health crisis. Campaigners fear it will deter talented students from entering a field that already demands long hours, intense emotional labour and exposure to trauma, citing research that links recognition and respect to retention in high-stress roles. As one health policy expert put it, the change is ‘a gut punch for nursing’, sending a message that the professionals who provide critical care are somehow less deserving of investment than lawyers or doctors.
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/trump-bill-strips-nursing-professional-status-puts-future-patient-care-risk-1757080