A furore has broken out over a Department of Education rulemaking committee's determination that post graduate nursing degrees are "graduate", not "professional".  The DoE is using this One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) terminology to set limits on the amounts students can borrow from the Federal Government to pay for post graduate education.  The determination is preliminary and will be put out for a comment period sometime in early 2026, after it is finalized.

The OBBBA is attempting to bring student loan debt under control.  Student loan debt has reached approximately $1.814 trillion, carried by 42.5 million borrowers with an average debt of $ 39,075.  There are 1.4 million Michigan residents with student loan debt and their average indebtedness is $ 37,053.

The ready availability of student loans has encouraged educational institutions to increase tuition without regard to the earning ability of graduates.  The average annual increase in college tuition this century has been about 8%, which was about double the general inflation rate.  Many student loan borrowers are now still paying off their loans after retirement, from their Social Security checks.

From MLive:

https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2025/12/mind-boggling-michigan-nurses-angered-by-trump-order-removing-nursing-as-a-professional-degree.html

‘Mind-boggling’: Michigan nurses angered by Trump order removing nursing as a professional degree
By William Diep | December 6, 2025

ANN ARBOR, MI — Karen Dunn, 67, calls the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to remove nursing as a professional degree “mind-boggling.”

The decision resembles “a slap in the face,” according to Dunn, a professor of nursing at Oakland University.

“How could you not say that we’re professionals when everything we teach and everything, our code of ethics, our accrediting bodies all say that we are,” Dunn said.

Several positions, including nursing, were recently reclassified from a “professional degree” to a “graduate degree” under President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” according to AL.com. That means borrowing caps - the maximum amount of money you can borrow - for federal student loans are lower than those for fields in “professional” programs.

Under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” students in “professional” programs can borrow up to $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total. All other graduate programs can borrow less than half of that figure, $20,500 per year and $100,000 overall.

The Department of Education recognizes medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, law, veterinary medicine, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, chiropractic, theology and clinical psychology as professional. Nursing, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical therapists and audiologists were removed from the list.

Dunn and other nurses in Michigan have criticized the federal administration’s decision for the financial barriers it puts on prospective nursing graduate students.

“This action undermines the critical and irreplaceable role nurses play throughout the health care system,” Christine McKean, director of communications at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, wrote in a statement on behalf of the school. “Nurses are the foundation of patient care, providing clinical expertise and essential services across hospitals, clinics, community settings, and public health programs. At a time when our nation faces dire current and future nursing shortages, limiting educational access to this profession is short-sighted and detrimental to the health of individuals and communities around the country.”

Trump’s Department of Education said the move is “not a value judgement” on certain professions.

“The definition of a ‘professional degree’ is an internal definition used by the Department to distinguish among programs that qualify for higher loan limits, not a value judgement about the importance of programs,” according to the department. “It has no bearing on whether a program is professional in nature or not.”

Dunn, a former representative for the American Nurses Association, said the federal decision is “all about money” and highlights the high costs to obtain an advanced degree.

The average cost of a master’s degree in nursing ranges from $15,030 to $42,880 as of 2020, according to NurseJournal.

The Department of Education said its data indicates that 95% of nursing students borrow below the annual loan limit and therefore are not affected by the new caps.

Elizabeth Haberkorn, a professor of nursing at UM and director of Judson Family Health, also said the federal decision will make it more difficult for people to become nurses, amid a national nurse shortage.

“Limiting those opportunities via the loans that they’re able to take out could limit the pool of nurses that are then able to provide care later on,” Haberkorn, 38, said.

Federal leaders predict a shortage of over 63,000 full-time registered nurses in 2030, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. The association also states that Michigan is expected to experience a nursing shortage by 15%, the fifth largest in the country, in 2035.

Like Dunn, Haberkorn said nurses “advocate” for patients and are the “backbone of our healthcare system.”

“Without the nursing team there, our department totally ceases to exist,” Haberkorn said.

Sue Anne Bell, professor of nursing at UM, similarly said the recent federal decision exacerbates the current national nurse shortage.

“Until we expand the pipeline of advanced practice nurses who can teach, mentor and lead, we will continue to face a nursing shortage not because of lack of interest, but because of lack of capacity,” Bell said in a Dec. 3 Michigan News story.

She said a resilient health system requires investing in educators.

“Expanding access to graduate nursing education is essential, not only to relieve the nursing shortage at the bedside, but also to ensure we have the clinical experts and faculty needed to prepare the next generation,” Bell said in the email.

She also said the federal decision also hurts patients, hospitals and insurers.

Tracey Chan, professor of nursing at Oakland University, said the federal decision “sends the wrong message” because it creates additional funding and policy issues without changing nursing as a profession.

Chan, 48, like Dunn and Haberkorn, said the decision will limit the number of nursing students in her classes.

“Most likely I will not have as many students because they will not have access to the funds to be able to pursue their degree,” Chan said. “Graduate nursing students rely heavily on federal aid or loan programs, so that’s going to really hit hard and in the end really hit our primary care workforce.”

She said the decision will disproportionately affect historically marginalized students, such as those from lower-income backgrounds and students of color, because it will limit their abilities to attend graduate school.

Carol Boyd, professor emerita at UM and founding director of the Center for the Study of Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking & Health, questions why federal administrators would restrict professional nursing education.

She later said that the answer is “appalling ignorance.”

“`This administration’s decision conveys an extraordinary lack of respect for a profession that is essential to public well-being,” Boyd wrote in a Dec. 3 email. “I can think of no profession that is required to do so much good with relatively weak compensation for the mandated overtime, worked holidays, and midnight shifts. And in return for years of costly education, we are now called, ‘not a professional.’”

Boyd said nurses make “life-saving decisions” during emergencies and prioritize the health and well-being of their patients.

What can be done moving forward? More independence, said Aaron McCormick, president of the Michigan Nurses Association.

“I want nurse practitioners to be able to practice autonomously so we can have more health care providers so the people can receive health care,” McCormick, 36, said.

McCormick, like many other nurses, believes the federal decision holds nurses back from attaining advanced education.

He added that this decision also impacts patients because there will be fewer nurses to provide medical care to them.

“It’s hurting the patients just as much as it’s hurting the nurses that want to go into these advanced degrees because it’s taking away a provider that could give that great, safe patient care,” McCormick said.