Amid nurse shortage, student loans targeted

Trump administration proposes cap on amounts for graduate school

- BY DANIEL MILLER

SUSAN WALSH Associated Press

NURSES say the loan cap would widen a significant shortage of nurse practitioners. Above, protesters at the White House in 2022.

A coalition of nursing and other healthcare organizations is outraged over a Trump administration proposal that could limit access to federal loans for some students pursuing graduate degrees, because the government would no longer label their studies as “professional” programs.

Without such a U. S. Department of Education designation, students pursuing graduate degrees in nursing and at least seven other fields, including social work and education, would face tighter federal student loan limits.

The revamp is part of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress, and is prompting anger and confusion, particularly among nurses who are lashing out online. Some social media posts have amplified inaccurate information about the changes — leading the Education Department to issue a “Myth vs. Fact” explainer on the proposed modifications.

But it has done little to quell the furor. Nurses and others affected not only oppose potential limits on educational borrowing to advance their careers, but perceive the move as a semantic insult that disrespects the intense training that is required to achieve their professional credentials.

One Instagram user—a self-described registered nurse with more than 250,000 followers on the platform — said that she had planned to attend graduate school to become a nurse practitioner, but the proposed loan caps may put that out of reach. “They don’t want us to continue our education,” she said. “They want women to be barefoot and pregnant.”

Susan Pratt, a nurse who is also president of a union representing nurses in Toledo, Ohio, called the move “a smack in the face.”

“During the pandemic, the nurses showed up, and this is the thanks we get,” she said.