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What exactly did the Department of Education say about nursing and where is the statement published?
Executive summary
The Department of Education has moved forward with a proposed redefinition of which degrees qualify as “professional degree” programs for federal student‑loan rules, and under that change nursing (including MSN and DNP programs) is not listed among the programs the department treats as professional degrees (see reporting and industry reaction) [1] [2]. Nursing groups say that omission will reduce access to higher loan caps and other graduate lending options and cite the department’s public explanations that the change is meant to “place commonsense limits and guardrails” on borrowing [3] [2].
1. What the Department of Education said — the basic line
The department’s public posture—reiterated by a press spokesperson and officials cited in multiple stories—is that it is updating and clarifying a long‑standing definition of “professional degree” as part of implementing broader loan‑limit reforms, and that the consensus definition developed during negotiated rulemaking does not include nursing programs; the department frames that work as streamlining federal lending and imposing borrowing guardrails [3] [4].
2. What this means in practice for nursing students and programs
News coverage and nursing trade outlets report that removing nursing from the list of degrees treated as “professional” would subject many nursing graduate programs to new borrowing caps and the end of some higher graduate loan authorities (for example, Grad PLUS elimination beginning July 1, 2026 is reported alongside the classification change), which critics say could make it harder to afford advanced nursing education [5] [6].
3. Who’s objecting — nursing associations and educators
The American Nurses Association (ANA) and other nursing organizations have issued strong public statements calling the change harmful: ANA warns the exclusion “jeopardizes efforts to strengthen and expand the U.S. nursing workforce” and urges the Education Department to engage with nursing stakeholders and explicitly include nursing pathways in the “professional degree” definition [7] [8].
4. The department’s rebuttal and competing framing
The department’s press office has pushed back on some characterizations in the media; a DOE spokesperson reportedly called certain reporting “fake news” in response to claims about reclassification, while other DOE statements cited by outlets emphasize historical precedent and that nursing “was never meant to be included” under the consensus definition being proposed [9] [4].
5. Where the department published the statement or explanation
Available sources point to DOE press and negotiated‑rulemaking materials being the public venue for the change; Snopes and multiple outlets cite a DOE page summarizing the negotiated‑rulemaking session and the proposed rule language (Snopes references the DOE press release linked as ed.gov/about/news/press‑release/us‑department‑of‑education‑concludes‑negotiated‑rulemaking‑session‑implement‑one‑big‑beautiful‑bill‑acts‑loan‑provisions) [2]. Individual news outlets also quote DOE press officials in email or statement form [9] [3]. Available sources do not reproduce a single, consolidated DOE “one‑paragraph” statement specifically titled “nursing no longer professional”; instead, reporting relies on DOE press correspondence and the department’s negotiated‑rulemaking documents [2] [3].
6. Disagreements in the record — definition, intent and effect
There are two competing narratives in the sources: nursing groups present the omission as a new, damaging reclassification that will restrict loan access and worsen workforce shortages [7] [1]; the department and its spokespersons present the outcome as clarifying historic practice and tightening borrowing limits to curb excessive graduate borrowing—asserting the omission aligns with long‑standing consensus definitions and was not meant as a surprise [4] [3].
7. Limits of current reporting and what’s not yet clear
Available reporting shows the policy change is tied to larger loan‑limit reforms (including the end of Grad PLUS), but the exact regulatory text, the DOE link where a single formal, signed “nursing” ruling appears, and detailed explanations of how individual programs and students will be administratively recategorized are not fully reproduced in the cited stories; readers should consult the DOE negotiated‑rulemaking materials and any formal proposed rule on ed.gov for the precise legal language [2] [3]. Available sources do not mention a standalone one‑line DOE press release titled solely “nursing excluded” separate from negotiated‑rulemaking documentation [2].
8. What to watch next
Watch for the Department of Education’s formal proposed‑rule publication and any Federal Register notice or DOE press release that posts the finalized definition and implementation timetable; also watch for letters and advocacy from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and ANA seeking reconsideration, and for state or institutional responses that could seek transitional funding or policy fixes [10] [7].
If you want, I can pull the specific DOE negotiated‑rulemaking page and the quoted DOE comments referenced in Snopes and the press coverage so you can read the department’s language and the nursing associations’ full statements side‑by‑side.