Call to Action: New rules for graduate nursing students – no longer to receive the same amount of reimbursement for their studies!

A quick recap

Newsweek: What Degrees Not Being Classified as ‘Professional’ Means for Student Loans

Nov 21, 2025

By Suzanne Blake, Reporter, Consumer & Social Trends

 

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has updated which majors fall under its definition of “professional” degrees, and student loans could be affected in the long term.

Under the revamped definition of “professional degree” programs, nursing and other key health care jobs have been excluded, triggering financial concerns for many.

Under Trump's fiscal plan, undergraduate loans are capped, and the GRAD PLUS program is eliminated. There’s also a new Repayment Assistance Plan, but only students pursuing a “professional” degree can borrow up to $50,000 per year.

Because of this stipulation, there are long-standing consequences for those in majors and degrees not deemed “professional” by the DOE’s new framework.

The fields determined as "professional" by the DOE now include:

• Medicine
• Pharmacy
• Dentistry
• Optometry
• Law
• Veterinary medicine
• Osteopathic medicine
• Podiatry
• Chiropractic
• Theology
• Clinical psychology

Nurses, Nurse practitioners, Physician Assistants and Physical Therapists are all excluded from the list.

In the long run, experts say, they could end up causing fewer students to enter these professions entirely. For health care fields like nursing, the revisions could be especially harmful pertaining to labor shortages.

Next steps:

Add your voice to the public comments

• Register for an account: https://lnkd.in/epA_JQCw 
• Review the proposed rule in the Federal Register.
• Submit a written public comment. 
• Be clear about the impact on nursing access, workforce equity, and patient care.

 

Contact your Senators and House Representatives and let them know you disagree with this decision. To find your elected officials, look up by your address at https://www.govtrack.us/

 

Encourage others to submit comments.