The U.S. Department of Education released the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) final rule on April 30, 2026. In this rule, the department declined to recognize post-baccalaureate nursing degrees as professional degrees for the purposes of federal student loans. Despite the department’s own recognition that nursing met the operative definition of "professional student" provided by Congress, the department declined to add nursing to the definition of professional degrees in the released final rule.
Representatives Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Dave Joyce (R-OH), and Jack Bergman (R-MI), as well as Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) are championing the Nursing is a Professional Degree Act. This legislation would include post-baccalaureate nursing degrees in the definition of professional degrees.