New student loan caps could shrink the nursing pipeline. Fewer advanced nursing students means fewer educators and less access to care.
If you talk to hospital, home health, or clinic leaders anywhere in the country right now, you’ll hear the same concern: we don’t have enough nurses. What’s worse, the education pipeline that’s supposed to replenish and grow the workforce isn’t keeping up with the demand in our healthcare sector.
I see that reality every day in my role as Chief Nursing Officer at ATI Nursing Education/Ascend Learning. Recruiting and retaining nurses is increasingly difficult, and supporting career advancement is a key part of changing that. Many students today aspire to become nurse practitioners, clinical specialists, and other advanced practice providers. Some will even go on to become desperately needed educators training the next generation of nurses.
We must do everything we can to support these students and make their dreams and aspirations come true. That’s why changes to federal student borrowing just finalized by the U.S. Department of Education are very worrisome for anyone concerned about the future of healthcare.
The department changed the limits on federal student loans for graduate programs. Under the new rule, students pursuing certain “professional” degrees—such as medicine—could borrow up to $50,000 a year. But many other graduate healthcare programs would be capped at $20,500 annually, with a lifetime limit of $100,000. That includes Nurse Practitioner (NP), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), and master’s and doctoral programs in Nursing Education.
For students who want to advance their careers, federal loans have long helped bridge the gap to pay for schooling costs. Many graduate nursing programs may run well over $30,000 a year, although tuition varies widely. Now that federal loan options are more limited, some students will decide the math doesn’t work and be forced to abandon their dreams.
When fewer students pursue advanced nursing degrees, our country loses out in at least two important ways. First, we should expect fewer advanced practice nurses, such as nurse practitioners, who expand access to care in rural and medically underserved communities where physician shortages are hitting hard.
