As such, we need to make sure that Members of Congress are aware of these changes and understand the dire impact such actions will have on the future nursing and midwifery workforce.
We are asking you to email your Members of Congress today encouraging them to contact leadership at the Department of Education to express the importance of maintaining access to financial aid for advanced nursing and midwifery students.
As we continue to actively engage in this rulemaking process alongside our friends and colleagues in the nursing and larger non-MD/DO community, we appreciate your advocacy on behalf of ACNM and the people and communities nurses and midwives serve.
Background:
- The Department of Education recently completed negotiated rulemaking meetings with the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee to inform how the Department of Education will implement changes to student financial aid provisions included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- Negotiators for the RISE Committee deliberated new financial aid policies, including the definitions of “graduate” and “professional” degree programs, a distinction that will severely impact the federal loan amounts available to nursing students.
- The RISE Committee’s proposed definition will make it more difficult for nurses to join the health care workforce because post-baccalaureate nursing degrees are excluded from the list of health care degrees in the definition of a “professional degree.” This list includes Pharmacy (PharmD), Dentistry (DDS or DMD), Medicine (MD), and Clinical Psychology (PsyD or PhD), but it omits post-baccalaureate nursing degrees such as a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).
- The reclassification will directly impact how post-baccalaureate nursing and midwifery students access federal loans and loan forgiveness programs.
- Post-baccalaureate nursing and midwifery students will lose access to higher federal loan limits previously available to professional degree programs if the rulemaking is adopted.
- Nursing and midwifery students are poised to be excluded from certain loan forgiveness programs (see below) reserved for professional degrees if the rulemaking is adopted.
- These changes create significant financial obstacles for students pursuing advanced nursing and midwifery education and will have a negative impact on our nation's maternal health workforce.
Loans Affected by the Reclassification:
The reclassification primarily impacts federal student aid programs, potentially pushing students toward private loans with less favorable terms.
- Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans: Graduate nursing students would face an annual borrowing limit of $20,500 and a lifetime aggregate limit of $100,000. In contrast, students in fields still considered "professional" can borrow up to $50,000 annually and have an aggregate limit of $200,000.
- Grad PLUS Loans: The new rules eliminate the Grad PLUS program for new borrowers in all graduate programs not considered "professional".
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF): APRNs would be excluded from certain loan forgiveness programs that are currently reserved for professional degree programs, although they can still qualify for PSLF by working for a government or a 501(c)(3) non-profit employer.