Gov. Josh Stein recently sent Secretary of Education Linda McMahon a letter urging her to reconsider the Department of Education’s proposal to cap federal loans for graduate nursing programs, according to a Dec. 9 press release.
“North Carolina is already challenged to address a significant nursing shortage,” Stein said. “Reducing the number of nurses qualified to teach will reduce the number of seats available to nursing students across the state. We should be reducing barriers for people who want careers in the health care fields, not creating them.”
Sign up for the EdDaily to start each weekday with the top education news.
The Department said in a November press release it was required to identify “professional degree” programs eligible for higher federal lending limits under the federal budget reconciliation bill. A committee proposed that federal lending for graduate programs in medicine, dentistry, and law would be capped at $200,000. Federal lending for other graduate or doctoral programs — including nursing and education (see the Editor’s Note below) — would be capped at $100,000.
The Department also clarified that these limits have no impact on undergraduate nursing bachelor’s or associate degrees. According to the statement, 80% of the nursing workforce does not have a graduate degree.
North Carolina faces a 13% vacancy rate among registered nurses, according to a report from the NC Health Talent Alliance, a rate that increases to 15% in rural counties, compared to a 10% nationwide rate. Among licensed practical nurses, the vacancy rate is approximately one-third.
The state’s shortage is the eighth worst in the country, according to a report from CheapNursingCEUs.
“Already, of the nearly 40 percent of nurses in North Carolina who plan to leave the profession within five years, one-fifth cite a lack of opportunity for promotion or advancement,” Stein’s letter said. “The proposed limits to federal loan assistance for educational progression in the nursing field would only compound such a sentiment in this critical segment of our health care workforce.”
Stein’s letter says that the state has made progress to reduce the shortage. That includes a 2023 General Assembly appropriation for $55 million to fund 108 programs across the state’s community colleges, including 32 associate degrees in nursing and practical nursing programs. The UNC System also invested $29 million last year to expand nursing education and Area Health Education Centers.
“Our state has seen a 15 percent increase in the number of newly licensed nurses entering the workforce in the past three years,” the letter said “Yet, these proposed limits threaten that progress by shrinking the number of educational opportunities available to students in nursing-related fields and slowing the pace at which we can enroll, graduate, and license new nurses.”
The Department’s statement said that these loan limits would reduce the cost of graduate programs and the debt students incur to complete them. The statement also says 95% of nursing students borrow less than the annual loan limit, so the new limits won’t affect them.
“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,” the statement said.
Graduate student loans make up half of the nation’s $1.7 trillion federal student loan debt, the statement said.
The statement also said that the designation of “professional degree” programs was only an internal definition to determine loan limits. The definition is “not a value judgement about the importance of programs. It has no bearing on whether a program is professional in nature or not,” the Department said.
The Department was required to publish the proposal after its negotiated rulemaking committee of higher education stakeholders unanimously agreed on a definition of “professional student.” But the loan limits are still a proposal that the public can weigh in on early next year, the press release said.
Editor’s Note: EdNC has received many requests for information about the impact of this policy change on the access and affordability of graduate programs for educators. According to this website, master’s degrees in education have an average total cost of $44,640, which is well below the $100,000 threshold. Doctorate degrees in education cost an average of $79,790, also below the threshold. But for students choosing more expensive graduate education programs and/or paying out-of-state tuition, the caps would have an effect.
Most importantly, these changes are not final. Regulatory language will be proposed in early 2026, and the public will have a chance to comment. Stay tuned.
Recommended reading
