Proposed changes to student financial aid provisions are part of the federal government’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. Nursing leaders are prepared to comment and oppose a change that could lower the borrowing ability of post-baccalaureate nursing students.
According to Susan Bakewell-Sachs, PhD, RN, professor and Dean of the School of Nursing at Oregon Health and Science University, “This change would directly affect the borrowing capacity of our master's, DNP, and PhD nursing students, at a time of great need for nurses with advanced and top degrees for clinical practice, education, and research.”
She goes on to describe the national impact.
“Nurse leaders across the country are deeply concerned about this. Nationally, the effort has been leading the effort to designate nursing as a ‘professional’ degree,” Bakewell-Sachs, an ARCS Oregon member, says.
Specifically, the proposed changes would place post-baccalaureate nursing students under the lower federal loan caps of $20,500 annually and $100,000 in aggregate lifetime limits, rather than the $50,000 annual and $200,000 aggregate limits available to professional degree programs.
These ARCS Chapters offer Scholar awards to nursing students:
- Seattle Chapter, University of Washington
- Pittsburgh Chapter, University of Pittsburgh
- San Diego Chapter, University of San Diego, Hahn School of Nursing and Health
- Oregon Chapter, Oregon Health & Science University
Nursing programs offer students a Bachelor of Science, a Master's, or a PhD.
Further reading from the American Nurses Association:
