Nursing programs are taking center stage in the public conversation on President Donald Trump’s student-loan repayment overhaul.
Public comment on the Department of Education’s proposed student-loan changes has been open for one week, giving anyone the opportunity to submit feedback. Those changes include new income-driven repayment plans, updates to the handling of defaulted student loans, and new borrowing caps for advanced programs.
The new borrowing caps, in particular, have sparked conversation and concern among advocates, lawmakers, and students. The department proposed a $100,000 lifetime borrowing limit for graduate students and a $200,000 limit for professional students, and narrowed the programs that would qualify as “professional” to 10, including medicine, dentistry, and law.
Post-graduate nursing programs are not included in the professional definition, meaning that students in those programs would not qualify for the higher borrowing limit. Of the over 2,500 public comments received so far, more than 1,200 mentioned nursing. One comment, for example, said: “During a critical nursing shortage it’s vital that nurses are able to advance their education so they can teach the next generation of nurses.”
Another comment said: “Policies that make graduate nursing education less affordable will not only discourage nurses from advancing their education but will also reduce the number of nurse educators available to train the next generation of nurses. Fewer educators mean fewer nursing school slots and longer delays in bringing new nurses into the workforce, and ultimately compromising care.”
Ellen Keast, the department’s press secretary for education, previously cited data from the Department of Education showing that 95% of nursing students are borrowing within the student-loan limits when asked about concerns on the borrowing caps.
“As for the most expensive outlying 5%, enrolled students are grandfathered into current lending limits to ensure there are no barriers to completion,” Keast said. “We expect that institutions charging tuition rates well above market prices will consider lowering tuition thanks to these historic reforms.”
Data from the College Scorecard also showed that most advanced nursing programs would not be affected by the proposed caps. Still, many of the comments expressed concern that the caps could exacerbate the existing healthcare shortage. In December, a bipartisan group of over 140 lawmakers sent a letter to Undersecretary of Education Nicholas Kent, urging him to revise the definition of a professional degree to include postgraduate nursing programs.
“Classifying these programs as graduate programs would result in these students having to take out additional student loans to cover the remainder of their tuition, which will limit the ability for students to complete their advanced degree,” the lawmakers said. They referred to the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist program, which can cost over $200,000 — double the proposed cap for the program.
The public comment period for the repayment proposals ends on March 2. The department said in a press release that it “may make changes” to its regulations based on the feedback it receives before moving toward final implementation this summer.
