Action Alert

A serious situation for the future of nursing has developed due to the Department of Education excluding nursing from the list of professions which are designated as a "professional degree". This move stems from an effort to rein in student loan debt and tuition costs as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act; however, it means that graduate nursing students would only be eligible for half the amount of federal loans as graduate medical students. Upon program completion, these graduate nursing students are our future advance practice nurses and educators and will sustain our nursing workforce and provide primary and specialized care to the nation.  The American Nurses Association has issued a petition to the Department of Education. As president of KONL and chair of the Legislative Issues Committee, I ask that you consider signing and submitting it. The call to action as it was sent from ANA is below:

Action Alert –Nursing subject to lower student loan caps. Sign our petition for the Department of Education to revise the designation of ‘professional degree’ programs to explicitly include nursing in the higher federal graduate loan amounts. If excluded, graduate nursing students would only be eligible for half the amount of federal loans as other designated professional degree programs.