Nurses and nurse educators in Colorado are worried that a Trump administration proposal to reduce the amount of student loans nursing students can take out will have serious consequences for the nursing workforce.
The U.S. Department of Education recently issued a draft rule excluding nursing from the definition of "professional degree" programs. That would mean graduate nursing students would have access to half the amount of federal student loan funding available to doctors, dentists, lawyers and other professions.
Graduate students in those “professional” fields would qualify for a maximum amount of loans up to $200,000. But nursing graduate students would be capped at half that — a maximum of $100,000 or $20,500 a year.
The nursing industry argues this change would make it harder for nurses to pursue advanced practice roles such as nurse practitioners, clinical oncology nurses or certified registered nurse anesthetists. Nurse practitioners are one of the fastest-growing occupations in the nation and require graduate degrees.
More caps on aid would also shrink the pipeline for nursing faculty and doctoral pathways that advance research and academia.
“We already have a shortage,” said Mark Longshore, executive director of the Colorado Nurses Association and a nurse educator. “We already have schools that are limited either by a lack of faculty or a lack of clinical sites to educate more nurses. If these loan limits go into effect, we're going to have even fewer nurse educators ... which exacerbates the nursing shortage.”
Colorado is one of 14 states with the worst nursing shortages in the country. Nationwide, an estimated 80,000 qualified nursing applicants were turned away because there aren’t enough spaces in nursing programs.
The announcement came shortly after a House budget committee vote to cut federal spending for nursing workforce programs in next year’s budget. That includes the elimination of the Nurse Faculty Loan Program, which helped nurses transition into teaching roles.
Department of Education’s rationale
Graduate loans make up half of all new federal student loans. The Department of Education argues that 80 percent of the nursing workforce doesn’t have a graduate degree, so the proposal wouldn’t affect most people.
It argues that limits on federal student loans for graduate degrees will drive down the cost of the programs and reduce student debt.
“Placing a cap on loans will push the remaining graduate nursing programs to reduce their program costs, ensuring that nurses will not be saddled with unmanageable student loan debt,” reads the department’s Myth vs. Fact sheet.
Longshore argues that the fact that only 20 percent of nurses have a graduate degree is precisely the reason the system needs more nurses earning advanced degrees.
“We need those nurses with graduate degrees to become nurse educators. We need those nurses to get graduate degrees and become nurse practitioners to provide care, especially in rural [areas] … physician assistants and nurse practitioners provide a significant amount of primary care in rural areas of Colorado.”
He said there are far more qualified people who want to get into nursing schools than there are spots available.
“Every nursing school I know of easily gets twice the applicants … than they have spots for.”
Costs for advanced nursing degrees in Colorado
Financial barriers are already preventing many nurses from advancing their education.
A scan of Colorado institutions shows that if someone got an initial nursing degree and carried through to a graduate nursing program, the total costs are well above the $100,000 loan limit.
At the University of Northern Colorado, a bachelor’s, master’s and PhD would be about $119,000. A different sequence, bachelor’s and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (to become a leader in clinical care), is $108,000. The University of Colorado’s total for a similar sequence is $129,000. Western Governors University is just above $100,000. For non-Colorado residents, the proposed cap wouldn’t cover annual tuition.
Those costs don’t include all the other expenses, like textbooks or simulation labs.
Longshore said that with lower loan limits anticipated, he’s already heard from some nurses who worry they will not be able to complete the program they are halfway through because they may exceed annual or total loan limits.
Nursing faculty shortage
To teach nursing, a master’s degree and sometimes a doctorate are required. Nurse educators fear that if graduate education becomes less accessible, faculty and nursing shortages will worsen.
The Trump administration also contends that capping loans will drive down the cost of education. Melissa Henry, director of the School of Nursing at the University of Northern Colorado, doesn’t see places to cut. She worries that pressure to reduce the costs will reduce the quality of education.
“That actually could exacerbate the shortage in the workforce because then you have nurses coming out of their degree program, not fully ready … and they may leave the workforce early. They're going to have higher stress, higher job dissatisfaction. Investing in nurses and nursing education is so important to help support the workforce.”
Longshore said if the goal of the administration is to reduce tuition by capping loans in some fields, “why does that not also apply to law schools and medical schools and podiatry schools and theology schools?”
The impact of a rule change wouldn’t be felt immediately. But a shortage of faculty would likely be felt first at community colleges and universities that educate nurses, he said.
“Colorado absolutely depends on accessible graduate pathways to address statewide shortages,” said Jenny Allert, a professor in the department of nursing at Metropolitan State University of Denver, which itself does not offer graduate-level nursing but relies on nurses with advanced degrees to educate nurses. “Policies that make master’s or doctoral education more expensive and create barriers will make it even harder for the state to grow its nursing school capacity.”
What’s next?
The department expects to draft an official rule early next year, at which time it will be open for public comment. The department said it may revise the rules based on feedback. More than 200,000 people have already signed a petition urging the department to restore nursing to professional status.
The new limits would take effect July 1, 2026.
| This story is part of a collection tracking the impacts of President Donald Trump’s second administration on the lives of everyday Coloradans. Since taking office, Trump has overhauled nearly every aspect of the federal government; journalists from CPR News, KRCC and Denverite are staying on top of what that means for you. Read more here. |
