How you can help

Join the nursing community’s petition to the Department of Education calling for the inclusion of nursing in the professional degree program definition. 

HPNA continues to work with our nursing community partners on this issue and will keep you apprised of any developments, including the Department’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which is anticipated in the next few months, and any opportunities to tell your story about the impact student loan access has had on your career path. 

Additional background on the proposal

The proposed framework was unanimously adopted through the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee negotiated rulemaking process, and defines professional degree programs as:

• Signifying both completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor's degree;
• Doctoral-level programs that require six or more years of postsecondary study;
• Professional licensure; and
• Classification within the same four-digit Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law, theology, and related fields.

The CIP code series (51) for “health professions” includes nursing, but it is not “in the same intermediate group” as the other specified fields, and post-baccalaureate nursing programs, including the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and research-focused nursing PhD, are not considered professional degrees. This has the potential to impact the ability of nursing students to access student loans and pose even more challenges to the nursing workforce.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to HPNA’s advocacy team if you have any questions. Thank you for your support of HPNA's advocacy work!