U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., filed bipartisan legislation to ensure post-baccalaureate nursing degrees are classified as professional degrees and eligible for larger federal student loans, the senators said.
The move, called the Nursing Is a Professional Degree Act, responds to a recent U.S. Department of Education decision that reclassified those degrees and limited access to federal loan amounts, the senators said. They said the reclassification pushed many students toward private loans.
Under current rules cited by the senators, degrees designated as professional allow students to borrow up to $50,000 a year and $200,000 over their academic careers. Degrees not classified as professional face limits of $20,500 annually and $100,000 in total, the senators said.
“It is imperative that Congress address the nursing shortage across the United States. This legislation would make nursing a more achievable profession by expanding the loan limits for nursing students,” Wicker said. State Sen. Nicole Boyd, R, chair of the Mississippi Senate Universities and Colleges Committee, said, “Mississippi needs more nurses, not fewer. We should be making it easier, not harder for students to pursue advanced nursing degrees.”
The senators said the bill is backed by about 250 organizations, including the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, the American Nurses Association, the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and the National League for Nursing.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
