The U.S. Department of Education has clarified that as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, graduate-level nursing degrees would no longer qualify for the “professional degree” loan category. This would cap their federal student loans at $20,500 a year and $100,000 lifetime. While this reclassification draws on a long-standing regulatory definition, it reduces financial aid for nursing students and could worsen an already critical nurse shortage.

Nursing is nonprofessional? It’s beyond belief. The Trump administration should rethink its occupational classification system and stop thinking about the financial consequences.

— Michael Zisner, Bethpage

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