Did trump say that nursing is no longer a profession?
Executive summary
Multiple news outlets and specialty publications report that the U.S. Department of Education, implementing parts of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBBA), has excluded nursing programs from its updated list of programs designated as “professional degrees,” a change tied to new caps on graduate borrowing (e.g., $50,000 annual cap for “professional students”) and elimination of Grad PLUS loans [1] [2] [3]. Reporting shows widespread coverage and pushback from nursing organizations, but available sources do not attribute to President Trump a direct, quotable line that “nursing is no longer a profession” — rather the phrase reflects policy reclassification by the Education Department [4] [5] [6].
1. What the headlines are actually reporting: a policy reclassification, not a rhetorical declaration
News outlets from HuffPost/WPR to Newsweek and People describe a Department of Education rule or reinterpretation that excludes nursing (including some graduate nursing credentials such as MSN and DNP) from the agency’s working definition of “professional degree” as it rolls out OBBBA-related loan changes — this is a regulatory reclassification tied to loan-eligibility limits, not a quoted statement from Trump saying nursing “is no longer a profession” [5] [4] [3].
2. Why the distinction matters: regulatory labels affect loans, not professional status
The practical impact reported is financial: under OBBBA the most generous graduate borrowing limits and eliminated Grad PLUS benefits are now reserved for programs the Education Department labels “professional,” and nursing programs were placed outside that label, potentially reducing borrowing limits for many nursing graduate students [1] [7]. Reporting notes this could make advanced nursing training more expensive and harder to access [5] [6].
3. How media characterized the change — broad coverage and alarm from nursing groups
Major and trade outlets—including The Washington Post, Newsweek, WPR/HuffPost, People, TMZ, and nurse.org—covered the reclassification and recorded vocal opposition from nursing organizations such as the American Nurses Association and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, which urged reconsideration and warned about workforce and access consequences [2] [4] [3] [6].
4. What fact-checkers and explanatory reporting add
Snopes and explanatory pieces emphasize that the controversy centers on rules implementing the new loan law and the Department’s list of programs that qualify as “professional.” Snopes summarizes the timeline: OBBBA eliminated the old Grad PLUS borrowing program and set caps; the Department listed many fields—including nursing, social work, physical therapy and others—as excluded from the “professional” designation, thereby subjecting them to lower caps [1].
5. Disagreements and alternative framings in coverage
Some stories stress immediate harms to nursing students and potential effects on staffing in underserved areas (WPR/HuffPost, nurse.org), while other pieces note the Department of Education pointedly interpreted a 1965 regulatory definition that didn’t explicitly include nursing and argued the average cost of certain nursing master’s programs might keep students below new caps (Newsweek quotes a DOE spokesperson saying average MSN costs could be within new limits) [5] [8]. These competing framings reflect journalists’ different emphases: workforce risk vs. administrative/legal interpretation [2] [8].
6. What the sources do not show: no direct quote from Trump equating policy with professional worth
Available reporting documents the Department of Education’s reclassification and the OBBBA law’s loan changes, and includes reactions from nursing organizations and some officials, but none of the provided sources contains an on-record quote from President Trump saying “nursing is no longer a profession” or denying the profession’s value; the phrase appears as shorthand in headlines and commentary, not as a presidential statement [4] [5] [3].
7. Stakes and next steps to watch
Coverage notes the rule change goes into effect on a timetable tied to OBBBA implementation (some stories reference July 2026 timing for final decisions), and nursing organizations say they will press the Education Department to reverse or revise the list; watch for formal rulemaking updates, letters from professional groups, and any DOE clarifying guidance about which specific nursing credentials (e.g., post-baccalaureate vs. clinical doctorate programs) are affected [6] [1] [3].
Limitations: This analysis relies only on the provided articles. If you want copies of the DOE’s rule text or the exact statutory language in OBBBA, those documents are not included in the supplied sources and are not cited here (not found in current reporting).