Education Department Excludes Nursing from ‘Professional Degree.’ What’s it Mean?

The Case Manager

Breaking NEWS: The U.S. Department of Education has officially excluded nursing in its recently revamped definition of “professional degree.” What does that mean for nurses?

In this week’s Case Management article, I planned to write about how nurses can use career ladders to plan the trajectory of their careers. But then I saw an email from the American Nurses Association stating the U.S. Department of Education has officially excluded nursing in its recently revamped definition of “professional degree” programs and shifted gears to bring this information to you. 

The change occurs as part of the implementation of President Trump’s "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA) and has nursing organizations nationwide raising alarms. 

ANA and other professional organizations say that this move will severely restrict access to critical funding for graduate nursing education, undermining efforts to grow and sustain the nursing workforce.

The new measures are currently scheduled to be implemented starting July 1, 2026.

Nursing was not the only professional discipline affected. Here are the others: 

• Nursing.
• Physician assistants.
• Physical therapists.
• Audiologists.
• Architects.
• Accountants.
• Educators.
• Social workers.

As of now, interdisciplinary teams representing these disciplines are working together to address this change and its impact on nursing education, and how they can reverse it. 

We are waiting for the public comment period to open in early January 2026. Stay tuned for more on this important topic. Your voice is important to the cause. 

Please follow these professional organizations for information on this topic, as there is a lot of misinformation on social media. 

American Nurses Association: https://www.nursingworld.org/news/news-releases/2025/statement-from-the-american-nurses-association-on-proposed-federal-loan-policy-changes 

American Association of Colleges of Nursing: https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data/all-news/article/aacn-alarmed-over-department-of-educations-proposed-limitation-of-student-loan-access-for-nursing 

Representative Jen Kiggans (R-VA) has stepped up to reverse this decision. Her website said that she has sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda E. McMahon and Under Secretary Nicholas Kent to re-evaluate the Department’s definition of “professional degree” to include post-baccalaureate nursing degrees in the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee negotiated rulemaking process.  She will keep Nurses updated on the response to the letter. She has said she has every nurse's back. Please follow her to keep up to date. Letter writing, calls, and other activities to show the force of the 5 million nurses who have voices and will use them to protect their profession. Here is an example of what members of Congress and the Senate are doing to improve Nursing education. https://joyce.house.gov/posts/joyce-introduces-bipartisan-bicameral-legislation-to-improve-nursing-education-workforce-development-programs 

Snopes: There is a lot of misinformation circulating on the internet on this topic. Here is a link to Snopes for documentation on the change https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-professional-degrees-nursing 

As nurses make up the largest discipline in the practice of case management, I hope you will watch as information emerges on this topic. We all need to watch this legislation and use our voices to protect nurses' rights at all levels. If you have questions, please reach out to Anne Llewellyn at allewellyn48@gmail.com 

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