Kiggans Sends Third Letter Urging Department of Education to Reverse Restrictions on Student Loans for Advanced Nursing Degrees

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Jen Kiggans (VA-02), Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) sent a letter to Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent regarding the Department of Education excluding post-baccalaureate nursing degrees within the definition of “professional degrees.” This is the third letter Congresswoman Kiggans has sent to the Department of Education in response to the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee’s negotiated rulemaking process, a rule that places nursing students at a significant disadvantage in obtaining the student loans necessary to pursue a nursing degree.

Congresswoman Kiggans said, “Every day, our nation’s advanced practice nurses are on the front line of healthcare, which is why it’s disappointing that the RISE Committee has failed to correct its omission of post-baccalaureate nursing degrees from recognition as professional degrees. Excluding these programs from professional-degree classification lowers the federal borrowing limits available to the students pursuing a nursing degree. This will increase out-of-pocket costs and create an inequitable financial structure compared to other clinical programs. Not only do these programs prepare students for clinical practice, they clearly meet the statutory and regulatory standards of a professional degree.”

“This decision is misguided and undermines efforts to encourage the next generation to pursue careers in nursing. At a time when we face significant nursing shortages, this sends the wrong message to the very workforce we should be supporting,” she concluded.

Read the letter here.

Background:

Rep. Kiggans is a graduate of Old Dominion University’s Nursing School and Vanderbilt University’s Nurse Practitioner program.

Rep. Kiggans has worked in several long-term care and nursing facilities in Virginia Beach and Norfolk in addition to serving as a primary care provider for a small private practice in Virginia Beach.

In light of the RISE Committee’s decision, Rep. Kiggans sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and another letter to Under Secretary Nicholas Kent.

Read Rep. Kiggans’ November 2025 letter to Secretary McMahon here.

Currently a professional degree under RISE can be awarded to: 

(i) Pharmacy (Pharm.D.), Dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.), Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.), Law (L.L.B. or J.D.), Medicine (M.D.), Optometry (O.D.), Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.), Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.), Theology (M.Div. or M.H.L.), and Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.)