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Does the Trump bill alter eligibility for federal Stafford, PLUS, or Perkins loans for nursing programs?
Executive summary
The Department of Education’s proposed rules implementing the One Big Beautiful Bill would narrow which graduate programs count as “professional degrees,” and multiple outlets report nursing programs are not on the published list — a change that would reduce higher federal loan caps for many nursing graduate students (graduate cap $20,500/year, $100,000 total vs. professional cap $50,000/year, $200,000 total) [1][2]. Nursing groups warn the change could make advanced nursing education harder to afford; fact-checkers note reporting surfaced from draft negotiated-rulemaking sessions and the Education Department’s rule process [3][2].
1. What the rule change would do to federal loan limits — plain terms
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill’s implementation proposals described in reporting, graduate students in programs that meet the department’s “professional degree” definition would be eligible to borrow up to $50,000 per year and $200,000 total; graduate students not meeting that definition would face lower annual caps (reported as $20,500/year) and a $100,000 lifetime cap for graduate borrowing in some coverage [1][2]. That shift changes who can access the higher per-year and lifetime graduate loan limits [1].
2. Where nursing sits in the department’s draft list
Multiple news outlets reporting on the Education Department’s negotiated-rulemaking and draft definitions say that nursing programs were left off the list of degrees the department explicitly labeled “professional,” meaning many nursing graduate programs would not qualify for the larger borrowing caps in the draft rule [1][2]. Local and national nursing leaders publicly reacted to the apparent exclusion [2].
3. Reactions from nursing organizations and educators
The American Nurses Association and other nursing leaders warned that limiting access to higher federal loan amounts for nursing graduate students threatens workforce development and could reduce the pipeline for advanced practice nurses and faculty, which they say would harm care access — a theme repeated in state and local coverage [2][4]. Nursing groups say this could deter students from advanced degrees needed for nurse practitioner roles and teaching posts [2].
4. How reporters and fact-checkers frame the authority and stage of change
News reports link the changes to the One Big Beautiful Bill’s statutory caps on graduate borrowing and to the Education Department’s negotiated-rulemaking process; Snopes and other fact-checking references note the reporting emerged from draft sessions and departmental materials rather than a final, broadly publicized change in all department practices [3][2]. In other words, coverage reflects a proposed regulatory implementation, not necessarily a finalized, unappealable reclassification [3].
5. Practical implications for Stafford, PLUS, and Perkins-type borrowing
Available sources describe caps on federal graduate borrowing amounts tied to degree-category definitions; they do not provide a line-by-line mapping to historic program names (Stafford, PLUS, Perkins). The reporting focuses on new annual and lifetime caps for graduate and “professional degree” borrowers under the law’s implementation, not on explicit statements that the rules change eligibility for named loan products like Perkins or PLUS by those labels [1][2]. Therefore: available sources do not mention specific effects on loans named “Stafford,” “PLUS,” or “Perkins” beyond the broader borrowing-cap changes described [1][2].
6. Areas of uncertainty and what to watch next
Reporting stems from draft negotiated-rulemaking sessions and department press materials; final regulatory text, implementation guidance, appeals, or statutory clarification could alter who is designated a “professional student” and the practical borrowing limits [3][2]. Watch for the Education Department’s final rule, formal guidance to institutions and servicers, and responses from Congress or legal challenges that could change or delay these provisions [3].
7. Competing perspectives and implicit agendas
The Education Department frames the change as “commonsense limits and guardrails” to make borrowing sustainable; nursing groups characterize it as a cutback that endangers workforce capacity and patient care [2]. Local outlets amplify nursing leaders’ concern, while fact-checkers and negotiated-rule materials emphasize the procedural nature of the draft change — an important distinction between policy intent and finalized regulation [2][3]. Note the political context: these regulatory moves implement a high-profile statute (One Big Beautiful Bill) passed earlier in the year and thus reflect an administration priority to limit graduate borrowing [3].
Bottom line: multiple news outlets report nursing programs currently are not listed among the department’s draft “professional degrees,” which, if finalized, would generally lower the federal graduate loan caps available to many nursing students; however, sources show this came from draft negotiated-rulemaking materials and press coverage, and they do not provide detailed, program-by-program mappings to historic loan product names like Stafford, PLUS, or Perkins [1][3][2].