Nursing degrees finally get federal loan parity with medicine and law
H.R. 8659 — Nursing is a Professional Degree Act · Filed by Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced May 4, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Higher Education Act to formally recognize nursing degrees (Master of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice, and Ph.D. in Nursing) as professional degrees for purposes of federal student loan programs. Currently, nursing is not listed as a professional degree under federal regulations, which affects loan repayment options and income-driven repayment eligibility for nursing students. The bill adds nursing to an explicit statutory list of professional degrees alongside medicine, law, dentistry, pharmacy, and other licensed professions.
Why we flagged it
The bill corrects a regulatory classification gap by elevating nursing degrees to statutory parity with other licensed professions in federal student loan programs. It is a targeted fix to align loan policy with professional reality, not a broad deregulation or subsidy.
What the text implies
- Nursing students may become eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and income-driven repayment plans designed for high-debt professional borrowers, potentially reducing lifetime loan costs for nurses in public-sector roles.
- The bill's catch-all clause ('any other degree that meets the requirements...as determined by the Secretary') delegates future professional-degree classification to the Department of Education, creating ongoing regulatory flexibility without requiring further legislation.
- Nursing programs at institutions with high default rates or poor outcomes may see increased enrollment if loan terms become more favorable, potentially affecting program quality and institutional accountability metrics.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Nursing students and graduates gain access to federal student loan repayment options (likely income-driven repayment plans and forgiveness programs) previously unavailable to them, bringing them into parity with other licensed professions. This reduces financial burden on a workforce in high public demand and addresses a regulatory gap that disadvantaged nursing borrowers relative to similarly-credentialed professionals.
Who stands to gain
- nursing students and graduates (reduced loan repayment burden)
- nursing education institutions (potential enrollment increase)
Named in the bill
Higher Education Act of 1965, Section 455(a)(4)(C), Title 34 Code of Federal Regulations Section 668.2, U.S. Department of Education, nursing degree programs
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- May 4, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 4, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
3 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $430,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 6 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.
Jennifer Kiggans, the sponsor, reported $1,313,089 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Healthcare Leadership Council — $200,000 on 1 filing
- New York University — $180,000 on 1 filing
- Nyu Langone Hospitals (formerly Nyu Hospitals Center) — $50,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,363 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
- H.R. 8659 on Congress.gov
- Actions and status history
- Cosponsors (1)
- Bill text the analysis read
- Healthcare Leadership Council — LDA filing, 2026 Q2
- New York University — LDA filing, 2026 Q2
- Nyu Langone Hospitals (formerly Nyu Hospitals Center) — LDA filing, 2026 Q2
- Jennifer Kiggans — FEC candidate receipts, 2026 cycle
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