HR-8691-119
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Sponsored by Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA)
What it does
This bill would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to add nursing degrees (MSN, DNP, DNAP, and Ph.D.) to the statutory list of "professional degrees" for purposes of federal Direct Loan borrowing limits. It would also codify the definition of "professional degree" directly in statute — removing the current reference to a Department of Education regulation — and grant the Secretary of Education authority to designate additional degrees as professional in the future. Students classified as professional degree students are eligible for higher annual and aggregate federal loan limits than graduate students under the standard classification.
Who benefits
Graduate nursing students pursuing MSN, DNP, DNAP, or Ph.D. degrees who would gain access to higher federal Direct Loan borrowing limits. Nursing schools and university nursing programs that may see increased enrollment if financing barriers are reduced. Hospitals and healthcare systems facing nursing shortages that could benefit from a larger pipeline of advanced-practice nurses. Patients and communities in underserved areas where advanced-practice nurses (nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists) provide primary care. Other professional degree programs whose status would be secured by statutory codification rather than regulatory definition.
Who is hurt
Graduate nursing students who take on higher loan amounts and may carry greater debt burdens upon graduation. Taxpayers who bear the risk of increased federal loan exposure if default or income-driven repayment forgiveness rates rise. Private lenders and alternative financing providers who may lose market share if federal loan limits better cover program costs. Students in other graduate fields not listed who remain ineligible for professional-degree loan limits and may perceive inequitable treatment. The federal budget, which could face modestly higher loan origination and potential long-term costs.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that advanced nursing degrees — particularly the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DNAP) — require the same multi-year, clinically intensive training as other recognized professional degrees like medicine and pharmacy, yet nursing students have been excluded from equivalent borrowing limits. They contend this gap forces nursing students to rely on more expensive private loans or forgo advanced training altogether, worsening the national nursing shortage at a time when the Health Resources and Services Administration projects a deficit of hundreds of thousands of nurses by 2030.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that expanding federal loan limits increases the total debt nursing graduates carry, potentially worsening long-term financial outcomes for a profession that, while vital, earns less on average than medicine or law — the degrees that anchored the original professional-degree category. They contend that higher borrowing limits tend to enable tuition increases rather than reduce out-of-pocket costs, citing research on the "Bennett Hypothesis," and that the open-ended delegation to the Secretary to designate additional degrees could expand professional-loan eligibility well beyond Congress's intent without further legislative action.
Constitutional context
Congress has broad authority to set conditions on federal student loan programs under the Taxing and Spending Clause (Art. I, §8, cl. 1). No significant constitutional challenge is apparent here, as the bill modifies an existing voluntary federal lending program rather than compelling any activity or imposing conditions on states. Post-Loper Bright (2024), the bill's move to codify the "professional degree" definition in statute — rather than leaving it to agency regulation — actually reduces the risk of judicial challenge by removing reliance on agency interpretation.
Checks and balances
Congress gains authority by codifying the professional degree definition in statute, reducing the Department of Education's prior regulatory discretion; the Secretary retains limited delegated authority to designate additional qualifying degrees, subject to judicial review under the post-Loper Bright independent-judgment standard.
Historical precedent
The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 restructured the federal Direct Loan program and established the professional student borrowing tier that this bill would modify, but no prior legislation has specifically addressed nursing's classification within that tier.