A profession left out: Why nursing’s exclusion from “professional degree” signals a looming healthcare crisis in US
The Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” has sparked fierce backlash after nursing was excluded from the federal definition of a “professional degree,” slashing loan access for aspiring nurses. With borrowing limits reduced and education costs soaring, nursing leaders warn the move will worsen shortages, undermine training pipelines, and further strain America’s already fragile healthcare system.
TOI Education
Nov 24, 2025, 23:00 IST
America's nursing profession
In a country grappling with chronic hospital staffing shortages, rising patient loads, and spiralling burnout among medical workers, one would expect federal education policy to fortify the healthcare workforce, not constrain it. Yet the latest provisions inside President Donald Trump’s sweeping “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” have done precisely the opposite.
By excluding nursing from the Department of Education’s definition of a “professional degree,” the administration has triggered an uproar that radiates far beyond academic debate. It cuts into the financial lifeline that enables thousands of students to enter a profession widely regarded as the backbone of American healthcare. The decision, which is embedded within broader student-loan cuts overseen by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, has left nursing organisations “deeply concerned,” warning that the policy “threatens the very foundation of patient care.” Their alarm is not hyperbole, it is an indictment of the profound disconnect between federal priorities and on-the-ground realities.
A decision with far-reaching consequences Under Trump’s legislation, signed into law earlier this year, Graduate PLUS (Grad PLUS) loans have been eliminated entirely, and federal borrowing limits have been restructured. Only students enrolled in designated “professional degree” programmes are eligible for a higher limit of $200,000. All other graduate students face a cap of $100,000. By removing nursing from the professional category, the administration has effectively priced future nurses, educators, and advanced practitioners out of the very programmes needed to sustain the workforce. Dr. Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), captured the gravity of the moment in her remarks to NewsNation: “Nursing is the backbone of the healthcare structure in the United States…
We are short tens of thousands of nurses and advanced practice nurses already. This is going to stop nurses from going to school to be teachers for other nurses.” Her warning is substantiated by cost realities. A four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing can range from $89,560 to $211,390, according to NurseJournal, figures far out of reach for many students without access to higher loan ceilings. A profession deemed “less than” The administration’s new classification draws an unusual line between what it recognises as “professional” and what it does not. Medicine, law, pharmacy, clinical psychology, and theology made the cut. Nursing, social work, physical therapy, physician-assistant programmes, education, and architecture did not. This hierarchy has provoked political backlash, including from Kentucky Senate candidate Amy McGrath, who wrote on X: “Can someone explain how a theologian is considered more ‘professional’ than a nurse practitioner?”
She further argued that degrees dominating fields “like healthcare, counselling, and social work,” fields where women comprise the majority, were disproportionately excluded, calling it “a way to quietly push women out of professional careers.” The administration pushes back The Department of Education has dismissed the wave of opposition as “fake news.” In a statement to Newsweek, Ellen Keast, the department’s press secretary for higher education, defended the move: “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.” She added that institutions criticizing the change were doing so because “their unlimited tuition ride on the taxpayer dime is over.” Economic priorities under scrutiny While aspiring nurses face tighter borrowing limits, the bill simultaneously ushers in more than $1.5 trillion in tax cuts for the top 5 percent of Americans, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress. To critics, this contrast exposes the ideological calculus behind the legislation: relief for the wealthy, austerity for essential workers. For a profession where the average wage stands at $45 per hour (Bureau of Labor Statistics), the financial return on an increasingly costly education becomes harder to justify, especially when policymakers appear unwilling to classify nursing on par with other highly skilled health professions.
A healthcare system at a breaking point The implications of this reclassification extend far beyond repayment schedules. Nursing shortages have already forced hospitals to rely heavily on travel nurses, raised patient-to-staff ratios, and accelerated burnout, a cycle that could intensify if the pipeline shrinks further. With the new rules set to be implemented on July 1, 2026, education leaders fear that entire academic departments, particularly nurse-education pathways, may struggle to fill seats. In an ageing nation with rising chronic-care demands, the policy risks hollowing out one of the most indispensable pillars of patient safety. If fewer nurses can afford to train, fewer Americans will receive care. A reckoning looms The controversy surrounding the exclusion of nursing from “professional degree” status is neither semantic nor bureaucratic.
It is a test of national priorities, one that pits the stability of the healthcare system against an ideological drive to shrink government spending and reclassify entire professions. If federal leaders proceed with these standards unchanged, the United States may soon discover the cost of undervaluing a profession that has long carried the weight of its public-health machinery. And when that bill arrives, it will not be the wealthy beneficiaries of tax cuts who pay it, but the patients left waiting for a nurse who never had the financial means to be trained.
