The United States Department of Education, under the guidance of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump and his Secretary of Education, former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon, has officially excluded nursing in the revamped definition of “professional degree” programs.
The change was part of the implementation of Trump and the Republican Party’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
As a result, graduate nursing students lose access to higher federal loan limits available to professional degree programs. Nursing students will be excluded from loan forgiveness programs reserved for professional degrees.
The changes are designed to create significant financial obstacles for students pursuing nursing education, a field dominated by women and minorities. Many claim that fact was not a coincidence, but rather a reason nursing was targeted.
As someone captioned the news when it was shared on Reddit:
"This will not help the current nursing shortage."
People made note of which professions were targeted.
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Referring to the accompanying photo of Trump and McMahon, people noted:
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But others noted who was really pulling the strings and why.
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In addition to who wanted the changes and why, they shared the other professions downgraded by the Republican's One Big Beautiful Bill Act that fulfilled many of Project 2025's Christian nationalist and White supremacist goals.
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In response to the news, American Nurses Association president Jennifer Mensik Kennedy—PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN—wrote:
"Nurses make up the largest segment of the healthcare workforce and the backbone of our nation’s health system. At a time when healthcare in our country faces a historic nurse shortage and rising demands, limiting nurses’ access to funding for graduate education threatens the very foundation of patient care."
"In many communities across the country, particularly in rural and underserved areas, advanced practice registered nurses ensure access to essential, high-quality care that would otherwise be unavailable."
"We urge the Department of Education to recognize nursing as the essential profession it is and ensure access to loan programs that make advanced nursing education possible."
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) stated:
"Our post-baccalaureate nursing graduates are independent providers, systems leaders, and researchers who deliver critical care and drive innovation across communities."
"Excluding nursing from the definition of professional degree programs disregards decades of progress toward parity across the health professions and contradicts the Department’s own acknowledgment that professional programs are those leading to licensure and direct practice."
"AACN recognizes that explicitly including post-baccalaureate nursing education as professional is essential for strengthening the nation’s healthcare workforce, supporting the next generation of nurses, and ultimately supporting the healthcare of patients in communities across the country."
Many noted the change is likely to make already critical nurse and teacher shortages even worse. Again, it's a matter of design to sabotage both public healthcare and education, making both luxury items that are reserved for the wealthy.
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