You’ve seen the urgent posts from ANA, AANP, AACN, and your state association: “Tell the Department of Education that advanced nursing belongs in the professional-degree category!”
What Actually Changed This Year?
In 2025 Congress passed major student-loan reform. The old Grad PLUS loan that let graduate students borrow unlimited amounts ends for anyone who enrolls after July 1, 2026 (U.S. Department of Education, 2025a).
Now there are only two federal loan buckets for graduate school:
- Regular graduate bucket → $20,500 per year, $100,000 lifetime total
- Professional-degree bucket → $50,000 per year, $200,000 lifetime total
The Department of Education, working through a formal committee (the RISE Committee), decided which programs qualify for the higher bucket. Their decision was based on federal definitions and precedents that date back to the 1960s (U.S. Department of Education, 2025b). Medicine, law, pharmacy, dentistry, and a few others made the list. Advanced nursing programs (MSN, DNP, nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, clinical nurse specialist, nurse-midwife) are currently not included.
Why the 1960s Definition Matters
When the original federal definitions were written in the mid-1960s, nursing looked completely different:
- Most RNs finished with a hospital diploma or the brand-new associate degree.
- The BSN was uncommon and considered optional.
- Nurse practitioners did not yet exist (the first NP program started in 1965) (Keeling & Kirchgessner, 2019).
- Nurse anesthetists were trained in hospitals, not universities.
- No one had heard of a Doctor of Nursing Practice.
At that time, “professional degree” was understood to mean programs that took students straight from high school through 6–8 years of college to independent licensure (MD, JD, DDS, etc.). Nursing simply didn’t fit that model in the 1960s, so it was never added to the list. The 2025 committee stayed close to those original criteria (U.S. Department of Education, 48 2025b).
Nursing in 2025 vs. Nursing in 1965
| Category |
1965 |
2025 |
| Education for most RNs |
Mostly hospital diploma or ADN |
Majority of new nurses now hold at least a BSN; many hospitals require it
(AACN, 2024) |
| Nurse practitioners |
Zero nurse practitioners |
More than 355,000 NPs — often the only provider patients see in rural and underserved areas
(AANP, 2025) |
| Nurse anesthetists training |
Trained on the job in hospitals |
Master’s or doctoral education + national certification required
(AANA, 2024) |
| Prescribing authority |
No independent prescribing |
NPs and nurse anesthetists prescribe in all 50 states; full practice authority in 28+ states + VA/DoD
(AANP, 2025) |
| Medicare reimbursement |
Medicare paid only physicians |
Medicare pays NPs 85–100% of the physician rate for the same service
(CMS, 2024) |
| Doctoral nursing degree |
No doctoral nursing degree existed |
DNP is the recommended entry degree for advanced practice
(AACN, 2019) |
In short: every part of federal healthcare policy has updated to reflect modern nursing—except, for now, the student-loan category.
This Is Not a Snub to Other Important Professions
Physician assistants, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, social workers, and public health professionals are also currently excluded. Asking to include advanced nursing is not saying those fields matter less. It’s pointing out that nursing already has a unique set of federal laws and payment rules (Medicare billing parity, full practice authority across the VA and military, etc.) that no other excluded profession has (ANA, 2025). Updating the list to match existing law is a technical correction, not a value judgment on anyone else.
The Two Sides of the Debate
The debt-control argument
- Total U.S. student debt is $1.7 trillion (Federal Reserve, 2025).
- Unlimited graduate loans helped fuel huge tuition increases.
- Fixed caps encourage schools to keep costs reasonable (this already slowed undergraduate tuition growth decades ago) (College Board, 2024).
The nursing-workforce argument
- We are short hundreds of thousands of nurses and advanced-practice providers right now (HRSA, 2024).
- Rural clinics and community health centers often depend entirely on NPs and nurse anesthetists.
- Many working nurses can’t pay cash for graduate school.
- Fewer advanced-practice graduates → fewer faculty → fewer preceptors → worsening shortage (AACN, 2025).
Both perspectives are reasonable. You can support controlling national debt and still believe nursing’s unique role justifies the higher (but still capped) loan limits.
How to Submit Your Comment in 5–10 Minutes (It Really Does Matter)
The Department of Education is legally required to read every public comment before the rule becomes final. Your real-world experience as a nurse carries serious weight.
Here’s the exact process:
- Go to → https://www.regulations.gov
- Search docket number: ED-2025-OPE-0001 (it will appear the moment the comment period opens—any day now).
- Click the blue “Comment” button and create a free account.
- Keep it short and personal. Example you can copy and edit:
“I am a bedside nurse in [Your Town/State]. We are short-staffed many shifts and our patients rely on nurses. In the 1960s nursing ended at a diploma; today Medicare pays advanced-practice nurses nearly the same as physicians and dozens of states plus the VA grant full practice authority. Please update the professional-degree definition so nurses can afford the education our communities desperately need.”
Organizations leading the effort and providing free templates & toolkits:
You don’t have to agree with everything they say—just add your own story.
Practical Next Steps (Even If the Rule Doesn’t Change)
- Explore public universities and large online programs—many MSN/DNP tracks are $30k–$60k total.
- Ask your employer about tuition reimbursement—hospitals are offering $10k–$20k+ per year because they need advanced providers.
- Look into Nurse Corps, NHSC, and state loan-repayment programs—some forgive $50k–$100k+ for service in high-need areas.
- Consider accelerated or bridge programs designed to finish quickly and stay under the caps.
Final Thought
You became a nurse to take care of people, not to fight loan rules written before most of us were born. Whether the definition gets updated or not, nurses always find a way forward. But a quick comment costs nothing and might make the path a little easier for the colleagues—and patients—who come after you.
References
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). (2019). The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). https://www.aacnnursing.org/DNP
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). (2024). Enrollment and graduations in baccalaureate and graduate programs in nursing.
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). (2025). OBBBA advocacy toolkit.
- American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). (2025). NP fact sheet.
- American Nurses Association (ANA). (2025). Federal loan cap action center.
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). (2024). Medicare physician fee schedule.
- College Board. (2024). Trends in college pricing and student aid.
- Federal Reserve. (2025). Household debt and credit report.
- Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). (2024). National sample survey of registered nurses.
- Keeling, A. W., & Kirchgessner, J. C. (2019). History of the nurse practitioner role. In Nurse practitioners: The evolution and future of advanced practice.
- U.S. Department of Education. (2025a). One Big Beautiful Bill Act implementation summary.
- U.S. Department of Education. (2025b). RISE Committee consensus language on professional-degree definition.