The Trump Administration’s move to limit federal student loans for those seeking graduate nursing degrees will create economic hardship for those entering the field and jeopardize public health, according to the New York State Nurses Association.

The union, which represents more than 42,000 nurses across the state, is one of a growing number of organizations representing nurses to criticize a proposed rule change that would remove advanced nursing degrees from the list of “professional degree” programs eligible for higher borrowing limits on federal student loans.

Included as part of the Big Beautiful Bill Act, the proposed change aims to reduce student debt and lower the price of higher education, but has been panned by nursing organizations and the state’s Department of Health, which argue the move will exacerbate an ongoing nursing shortage experienced throughout much of the country, including New York.

“This proposal is an insult to the nurses who work hard day and night caring for patients with professionalism and skill and to those nurses seeking to advance their education,” New York State Nurses Association said in a statement, adding that the proposal would “lead to fewer highly trained nurses.”

But the U.S. Education Department has dismissed what it described as “fear mongering” and “misinformation” from “certain progressive voices,” arguing the proposed rule changes would not impact a vast majority of nurses seeking graduate-level education.

Graduate students are currently able to apply for federal student loans up to the cost of their degrees, which the U.S. Education Department argues incentivizes institutions to offer more expensive graduate programs.

Under the proposed rule change — which was handed down earlier this month by a special committee — borrowing limits are now in place, but are capped at higher rates for “professional degree” programs.

Professional degrees under the proposal include pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, theology and clinical psychology. Left out are nursing programs, including a master of science and doctorate level degrees and research nursing Ph.D. programs.

Those enrolled in professional degree programs are eligible to borrow up to $200,000 in federal loans. Students pursuing other graduate or doctoral programs would be capped at $100,000 under the proposal.

The change is expected to be finalized next year and take effect in July. It will bring about a “sea change in higher education” and put “significant downward pressure on the cost of tuition,” U.S. Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said in a statement.

“This will benefit borrowers who will no longer be pushed into insurmountable debt to finance degrees that do not pay off,” the statement reads.

The proposed changes come as hospitals across the greater Capital Region grapple with how to recruit and retain nurses, a topic that has been a major sticking point for some area hospitals during recent contract negotiations.

Cadence Acquaviva, a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Health, said the proposal would place “additional financial burden” on those seeking to enter the nursing field at a time when there “are already critical shortages” of nurses.

“This is yet another example of how changes and uncertainty at the federal level threaten critical public health effort and capacity,” Acquaviva said.

But the U.S. Education Department pushed back on claims that the proposal would impact those seeking to enter the field, noting that 95% of nursing students borrow below the annual loan limit and would not be impacted.

A vast majority of nurses in the field, 80%, also do not have a graduate degree, the department said in a fact sheet released after widespread pushback on the proposed regulation change.

“Further, placing a cap on loans will........

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