On July 4 last year, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) into law, a sweeping legislation that touched on almost every aspect of American life from immigration to taxes to education. One such provision was caps on federal student loan borrowing, touching on one of Trump’s campaign promises to lower costs to higher education by restructuring federal funding.
Starting July 1, federal student loans will be capped at $100,000 cap on graduate degrees and $200,000 on professional degrees. Previously, students could finance advanced degrees with unlimited Grad PLUS loans, which were eliminated in the bill.
Given how these caps significantly alter how much federal aid one can use to pay for their graduate programs, there’s a growing contingent in Congress trying to shield one high-demand profession in particular from that cap: nurses.
“America’s strength has always been rooted in the talent, ingenuity, and determination of its people,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) in a statement. “By investing in their health, skills, and potential, this legislation helps ensure our country remains strong, competitive, and prepared for the future.”
Cole’s comments come as the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee advanced an amendment to its budget bill last week that would increase borrowing limits for master’s and doctoral-level nursing degrees—which would otherwise be limited to the $100,000 cap come July 1. The measure alongside other provisions that expand funding for nurse training and biomedical research, just as it cut programs for refugees and unaccompanied minors—made it out of committee in a 34-to-28 vote.
“Following the President’s direction, we have taken a close look at every program funded in this bill and worked to codify the Trump Administration’s efforts to end senseless progressive overreach,” Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chairman Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) said in the statement. “This bill advances educational opportunities, restores accountability, and ensures taxpayer dollars are directed towards core functions like biomedical research, biodefense infrastructure, and rural health.”
Nurse educators shortage
In May, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) introduced a bipartisan bill that would classify advanced nursing degrees as professional degrees, raising those students’ borrowing limit. The OBBBA defined professional degrees as medical, dentistry, and law degrees but notably excludes some of the most popular degree programs such as business or education master’s. The new bill would apply to students training to become nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse-midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and other nursing roles that require an advanced degree.
In December, five Republican representatives sponsored a bill that would expand professional degrees to include nursing and other healthcare degrees as well as MBAs and master’s degrees in education and theology. A bipartisan group of more than 150 members of congress signed a letter calling on the Education Department to add nursing to its list of professional degrees in March. Politicians and nursing associations have warned that federal borrowing loans will turn students to private loans, which typically have higher interest rates, leaving students with more debt over time.
The bipartisan support for nurse training comes at a critical moment for nursing. For years, the country has faced a nurse shortage, largely due to the fact that there aren’t enough teachers to meet demand in nursing programs for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. Nurse educators are required to have at least a master’s degree, which will be harder to obtain with a lifetime borrowing limit on all degrees. The national vacancy rate for nursing faculty sits at 7.2%, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration projects that the U.S. registered nurse shortage will extend until 2038, and that the U.S. will only have 70% of the licensed practical nurses it needs by that time.
Meanwhile, in other higher education fields, the problem is often the opposite: typically too much interest from for a limited number of spots in academia. Less than a quarter of life and health sciences Ph.D graduate land a tenure or tenure-track position in academic.
The Department of Education did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment, but it has previously called the caps “commonsense limits,” saying the borrowing limits would pressure universities to lower education costs. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average federal student borrower had $39,075 in debt.
The budget amendment is part of the federal budget, meaning that this year’s nursing borrowers will still have a $100,000 cap until Oct. 1 at the earliest, were the bill to become law.
