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DC is quietly rewriting federal student loans—and nursing grad programs were left off the “professional degree” list that gets higher loan caps.

On paper it looks like a tweak. In real life, it’s a direct hit on the nursing profession: NP, CRNA, CNS, nurse midwifery, and nurse educator tracks all get pushed into the “lower cap” bucket in a country that’s been screaming nursing shortage for 30 years.

Some influencers are saying, “Relax, this is good. It’ll force schools to lower tuition.” Let’s be real: programs with waitlists around the block don’t suddenly cut tuition in half because DC lowered federal loan caps. They just:

• Keep prices high,
• Fill seats with students who have family money, private loans, or employer sponsorship,
• And shut out the bedside nurses who can’t bridge the gap.

Loan caps don’t “discipline” schools.

In this 11-minute breakdown, I walk through:

• What changed in the draft loan rules
• How this chokes the pipeline for NPs, CRNAs, CNSs, midwives, and nurse educators
• Why “manufactured scarcity” is profitable for staffing agencies and big systems
• And why we must treat this as a war on the nursing profession, not a harmless policy tweak

👉 Take Action:
• Share this with 3 nurses thinking about grad school
• Call or email your reps: “Add nursing to the professional degree loan list with higher caps”
• Tell your hospital and school leadership you support that change—loudly and proudly

If you’re a nurse who feels that knot in your stomach when something doesn’t add up, you’re not crazy—you’re awake.

🩺 Ethics training for nurses who refuse to be silent: RighteousRN.com

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