The Department of Education has excluded nursing from what are considered professional degree programs, as it is set to implement measures listed in Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The American Nurses Association criticized the decision, saying it will restrict funding to nursing students and contribute to an already existing nurse shortage.
Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ excludes nursing programs from funding
Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” changed the definition of what is considered a professional program, as well as the eligibility to receive up to $200,000 in student loans, according to Newsweek. The Department of Education will now only consider these fields as professional programs: medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, law, veterinary medicine, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, chiropractic, theology and clinical psychology.
It means that physician assistants, nurse practitioners, physical therapists and audiologists are excluded from this list. They will no longer have access to the same student loans as they did before.
“With a cap on federal student loans, fewer nurses will be able to afford graduate nursing education, such as Master’s, [Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)], and Ph.D. degrees,” Olga Yakusheva, a professor of nursing and business of health at Johns Hopkins University, told Newsweek.
The change will affect future students, as well as over 260,000 students currently enrolled in entry-level Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs and around 42,000 enrolled in Associate Degree in Nursing programs.
The American Nurses Association is saying the changes will affect the nursing workforce in the future
“This will severely restrict access to critical funding for graduate nursing education, undermining efforts to grow and sustain the nursing workforce,” the organization said in a Nov. 10-dated press release.
Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, the president of the American Nurses Association, said the changes will undermine the healthcare system as a whole in a time when help is needed.
“Nurses make up the largest segment of the healthcare workforce and the backbone of our nation’s health system,” she said. “At a time when healthcare in our country faces a historic nurse shortage and rising demands, limiting nurses’ access to funding for graduate education threatens the very foundation of patient care. In many communities across the country, particularly in rural and underserved areas, advanced practice registered nurses ensure access to essential, high-quality care that would otherwise be unavailable.”
Kennedy also called the federal government to go back on its decision: “We urge the Department of Education to recognize nursing as the essential profession it is and ensure access to loan programs that make advanced nursing education possible.”
The changes are set to be implemented on July 1, 2026.