GOOD NIGHT NURSE
THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DOWNGRADES THE LADDER TO SUCCESS
Good Night, Nurse: Trump Administration Continues Its Assault on the Middle Class, Removing One More Rung in the Ladder to Success
Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My $200,000 Debt for a Degree the Government No Longer Considers "Professional"
In a move that can only be described as "aggressively missing the point," the Trump administration has decided that nurses, physical therapists, physician assistants, and public health professionals aren't quite professional enough to deserve the same federal student loan limits as, say, chiropractors and theologians.
Yes, you read that right. Under the Department of Education's newly minted definition of "professional degrees"—courtesy of the delightfully named "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (because nothing says fiscal responsibility like a title that sounds like it was workshopped by a Vegas casino developer)—the number of qualifying programs has been slashed from roughly 2,000 to fewer than 600.
The Chosen Few vs. The Expendables
So who made the cut? The usual suspects: doctors (M.D.), dentists, lawyers, veterinarians, podiatrists, and—checks notes—theologians. Because apparently, pondering the divine mysteries of existence qualifies you for $50,000 in annual federal loans, but keeping grandma alive in the ICU? That's only worth $20,500.
Meanwhile, the degrees getting the boot read like a "Who's Who" of people you desperately need when you're sick, injured, or trying not to die:
- - Nurse Practitioners (because who needs primary care in rural America?)
- - Physician Assistants (the backbone of understaffed emergency rooms everywhere)
- - Physical Therapists (helping people walk again is apparently not "professional")
- - Public Health specialists (pandemic, sch pandemic)
- - Occupational Therapists (teaching stroke victims to feed themselves: overrated)
- - Social Workers (mental health crisis? Never heard of her)
The Math Ain't Mathing
Let's talk numbers, because this is where the policy goes from "questionable" to "are you kidding me right now?"
Graduate nursing programs cost an average of $40,000 to $100,000+. Under the new rules, students can borrow a maximum of $20,500 per year in federal loans. Even a kindergartener with a crayon could tell you that doesn't add up. The shortfall? That's where private loans come in—you know, the ones with interest rates that would make a loan shark blush and repayment terms designed by Kafka.
Meanwhile, Nurse Practitioners earn a median salary of around $120,000. Respectable, right? Except when you're staring down $150,000+ in debt with private loan interest compounding faster than you can say "prior authorization denied."
But Wait, There's More!
The timing of this policy is chef's kiss perfect. The U.S. is facing:
- - A projected shortage of 1 million registered nurses by 2030
- - A need for 2.4 million additional healthcare workers in the same timeframe
- - Ongoing staffing crises in rural and underserved areas where APRNs are often the only providers
The administration's solution? Make it financially impossible for people to enter these fields. It's like responding to a house fire by defunding the fire department and then acting surprised when everything burns down.
The "Skills Over Degrees" Smokescreen
Now, some might argue this is part of a broader push toward "skills-based hiring" and reducing the emphasis on traditional degrees. And sure, in a parallel universe where that's implemented thoughtfully and equitably, maybe that's a conversation worth having.
But here's the thing: You can't perform a spinal tap or prescribe medications based on "skills" you picked up from a YouTube tutorial. These are licensed professions requiring years of rigorous, supervised clinical training. The Department of Education's own criteria for "professional degrees" include doctoral-level credentials, at least six years of postsecondary study, and licensure requirements.
Nursing programs meet all of these. So do PA programs, DPT programs, and most of the others on the chopping block.
Maybe It's Just Making Way for AI?
Here's a fun thought experiment: Is this policy secretly designed to accelerate the replacement of human healthcare workers with artificial intelligence? After all, if you make it prohibitively expensive to train nurses and therapists, suddenly that $50/month ChatGPT subscription for "Dr. Algorithm" starts looking pretty attractive to hospital administrators.
Imagine: "I'm sorry your mother is coding, but our AI nurse is currently experiencing high call volume. Your estimated wait time is... buffering... 47 minutes. Please continue to hold. Your emergency is important to us."
The Equity Angle (Or Lack Thereof)
Let's address the elephant in the room: Many of the excluded professions are dominated by women and people from diverse backgrounds. Nursing is 80% female. Social work, occupational therapy, speech pathology—all fields where women and first-generation college students have found pathways to stable, well-paying careers.
Meanwhile, the fields that kept their professional status? Historically male-dominated (though that's changing). It's almost like the policy was designed by someone who thinks "women's work" isn't quite as valuable as "real" professional work.
But I'm sure that's just a coincidence.
The "Blank Check" Myth
The administration's stated rationale is that unlimited Grad PLUS loans gave universities a "blank check" to raise tuition without accountability. And look, there's a kernel of truth there—college costs have spiraled out of control.
But here's the thing about amputating someone's leg to cure their stubbed toe: It's bad medicine.
If the goal is to control costs, maybe start with, I don't know, regulating tuition increases? Increasing state funding for public universities? Addressing the administrative bloat that's turned colleges into corporate bureaucracies?
Instead, we're punishing students for a systemic problem they didn't create, while simultaneously ensuring that only wealthy people can afford to become nurses, therapists, and public health workers.
The Workforce Apocalypse
Let's game this out. Starting July 1, 2026, prospective nursing students will face:
1. Massive debt from private loans
2. Lower earning potential relative to debt burden
3. A government that literally doesn't consider their profession "professional"
Who's going to choose that path? Spoiler alert: Fewer people. Which means fewer nurses. Which means longer wait times, more medical errors, higher mortality rates, and healthcare costs that make your current insurance premiums look like a bargain.
And rural communities? The ones that already struggle to attract healthcare providers? They're about to become healthcare deserts. Hope you don't have a heart attack more than 100 miles from a city!
The Theology Exception
Can we talk about the fact that theology degrees made the cut? I'm not knocking religious studies—it's important work for those called to it. But in a policy supposedly focused on "workforce needs" and "return on investment," including Master of Divinity degrees while excluding Nurse Practitioners is... a choice.
It suggests this isn't really about economics or workforce planning. It's about values—specifically, whose work the administration values.
What Can Be Done?
Professional organizations like the American Nurses Association, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health are fighting back, urging the Department of Education to reverse course. There's a public comment period (because bureaucracy never dies), and advocacy efforts are ongoing.
If you're a student, educator, healthcare worker, or just someone who'd prefer not to die from a preventable illness because there aren't enough nurses, now's the time to make noise. Contact your representatives. Submit comments. Share stories about why these professions matter.
Or, you know, just wait until you're in an understaffed emergency room at 2 AM and reflect on how we got here.
The Bottom Line
This policy doesn't reduce the cost of education—it just shifts who pays for it. It doesn't improve healthcare—it guarantees shortages. It doesn't promote equity—it slams the door on the middle-class pathway to professional careers.
It's a master class in solving a problem by making everything worse.
So good night, nurses. Good night, physical therapists. Good night, physician assistants and public health workers and everyone else deemed insufficiently "professional" by an administration that apparently thinks the best way to fix a broken ladder is to remove the rungs.
The middle class thanks you for your service. We'd offer you a hand up, but, well... you know how it is.
The views expressed in this article are those of someone who believes healthcare workers deserve both respect and reasonable access to education funding. Side effects may include outrage, existential dread, and an overwhelming urge to call your senator.
Editor's Note: It is cheaper to import professionals than to than it is to educate them in the US. please read:
H-1B AND THE DEATH OF THE AMERICAN DREAM: HOW AMERICA DECIDED IT'S CHEAPER TO RENT FOREIGN-EDUCATED WORKERS THAN TO EDUCATE ITS OWN CHILDREN https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2025/11/h-1b-and-death-of-american-dream-how.html
Nursing Excluded as 'Professional' Degree By Department of Education | Nurse.Org https://nurse.org/news/nursing-excluded-as-professional-degree-dept-of-ed/#what-the-reclassification-means
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is deeply concerned by the Department of Education’s decision to move forward with a proposed definition of professional degree programs that excludes nursing and significantly limits student loan access. Despite broad recognition of the complexity, rigor, and necessity of post-baccalaureate nursing education, the Department’s proposal defines professional programs so narrowly that nursing, the nation’s largest healthcare profession, remains excluded. Should this proposal be finalized, the impact on our already-challenged nursing workforce would be devastating.
Under the Department’s proposed framework, which was unanimously adopted through the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee negotiated rulemaking process, professional degree programs are described as:
Signifying both completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor's degree;
Doctoral-level programs that require six or more years of postsecondary study;
Professional licensure; and
Classification within the same four-digit Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law, theology, and related fields.
While the CIP code series (51) for “health professions” includes nursing, it is not “in the same intermediate group” as the other enumerated fields. Thus, post-baccalaureate nursing programs, including the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and research-focused nursing PhD, fall outside the professional category.
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.
The Department is expected to release a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the coming weeks, where stakeholders, including AACN, will have additional opportunities to comment. AACN will continue to lead this effort, engage our membership and outside stakeholders, and explore every available avenue to ensure post-baccalaureate programs are included in the definition of professional degree programs.
For more details on our ongoing engagement on this issue, please visit AACN’s policy and advocacy page.
