The American Nurses Association announced this week it is endorsing the Nursing is a Professional Degree Act, bipartisan federal legislation that would reverse the Department of Education's decision to exclude post-baccalaureate nursing programs from the "professional degree" classification — a reclassification that, if not overturned, will cap graduate nursing loan access at $20,500 per year when the DOE's RISE rule takes effect July 1, 2026.
The bill is being championed as a last-ditch legislative fix before the July 1 effective date hits DNP, MSN, and NP programs nationwide. Without the fix, nursing graduate students face loan caps approximately 60% below what law and medical students can borrow annually under the same federal loan programs.
What the DOE RISE Rule Actually Does
The Department of Education's Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) rule, finalized earlier this year and effective July 1, 2026, caps graduate and professional student borrowing under the Unsubsidized Stafford and Grad PLUS programs. The cap structure treats nursing as a "general academic" graduate program rather than a "professional" one — placing it alongside humanities and social sciences at a $20,500 annual Unsubsidized Stafford cap.
By contrast, students in JD, MD, DO, and dental programs qualify for higher annual limits under the professional degree classification. A nursing student in a two-year DNP program could borrow up to $41,000 in Unsubsidized Stafford funds. A law student at the same institution could access over $100,000 annually through the same loan program.
The practical effect: DNP and MSN programs, already among the most expensive graduate healthcare degrees, become largely dependent on private loans or institutional financing after July 1. Interest rates on private graduate loans run 2–6 percentage points higher than federal rates, and they carry none of the income-based repayment protections that have been central to PSLF access for nurses in public health settings.
The 10-Organization Lawsuit Is Parallel, Not Duplicative
In late May 2026, a coalition of 10 nursing organizations — including ANA, AANP, and AANA — filed a federal lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction to block the RISE rule from taking effect on July 1. The ANA's endorsement of the Nursing is a Professional Degree Act is a parallel legislative track, not a substitute. If the courts grant the injunction, the rule is temporarily blocked regardless of whether Congress acts. If Congress passes the bill and it's signed before July 1, the rule can't take effect at all.
The lawsuit and the legislation are both in motion simultaneously. The July 1 deadline is hard — and with Congress's track record on healthcare bills, the lawsuit is probably the more realistic near-term relief valve. But the ANA's legislative push puts a specific bill name in front of Congressional staffers and adds to the political pressure that can accelerate hearing dates.
Who Gets Hit Hardest
The populations most affected by the loan cap are nurses pursuing NP, CRNA, and DNP degrees who rely on federal Grad PLUS loans to cover the full cost of attendance. CRNA programs in particular run $75,000–$120,000+ for a doctoral nurse anesthesia program — well above what $20,500/year would cover over a 28-36 month program. CRNA students will be especially exposed to private loan markets if the rule takes effect.
The cap also hits nurses from lower-income backgrounds disproportionately, because they are more likely to be fully dependent on federal loans rather than family resources, employer tuition benefits, or scholarship funding from programs that predominantly serve well-resourced applicants.
The DOE loan cap is one of those policy decisions that looks technical until you run the actual numbers on a CRNA program budget. I've seen nurses turn down CRNA school because of the cost. If the rule goes into effect and Grad PLUS access shrinks, you will see program enrollment drop — particularly among nurses who don't have a private credit history robust enough to get $150K in private loans at a reasonable rate. The CRNA shortage that already exists in rural areas will get worse. The ANA's legislative push is the right move. Whether Congress can move fast enough is the real question.