A wave of public anger has erupted after the U.S. Department of Education announced that nursing will not be classified as a “professional degree” under President Donald Trump’s newly introduced One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The designation matters: students in approved professional programs can borrow up to $200,000 in federal loans, while everyone else faces a hard cap of $100,000.
For a field already struggling with shortages, the ruling has set off alarms across the healthcare community.
More than 260,000 students are currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, with another 42,000 enrolled in associate-level programs. Critics say the new limit could discourage future applicants, shrink training pipelines, and deepen staffing shortages nationwide.....
