The Department of Education issued final regulations in April that fail to recognize post-baccalaureate nursing degrees – MSN, DNP, DNAP, and PhD – as professional degrees, severely limiting the amount of federal financial aid available to nursing students. These new caps on federal student loans are set to go into effect on July 1, leaving many students with the choice of either taking on burdensome private loans with high interest rates or giving up their aspirations for advanced nursing careers.

In response, members of Congress have introduced the “Nursing is a Professional Degree Act” (H.R. 8691/S. 4568) to explicitly include those degrees in the “professional degree” definition under the Higher Education Act. It is crucial for legislators to demonstrate broad bipartisan support for taking action to preserve access to nursing education. Please contact your Senators and Representative today and urge them to cosponsor this critically important legislation.