Nursing degrees now qualify for federal student loan relief programs
S. 4568 — Nursing is a Professional Degree Act · Filed by Jeff Merkley (D-OR) · 7 cosponsors · Introduced May 19, 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 among professional degrees, which affects loan eligibility, repayment options, and income-driven repayment calculations for nursing students. The bill adds nursing to an explicit statutory list of professional degrees alongside medicine, law, dentistry, pharmacy, and others.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole function is to reclassify nursing degrees within the federal student loan regulatory framework, moving them from an undefined or lower-tier category into the explicit professional-degree category. This is a narrow, technical amendment with direct financial consequences for a specific borrower population.
What the text implies
- Nursing students may become eligible for income-contingent repayment (ICR) and income-sensitive repayment (ISR) plans, which can extend repayment to 25 years and may result in loan forgiveness after that period—a significant benefit not previously available.
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) calculations may change for nurses employed by government or nonprofit healthcare systems, as the professional-degree classification affects how payments are counted toward the 120-payment threshold.
- 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, potentially expanding the list without further legislative action.
- Nursing programs may see increased enrollment demand if borrowers become aware of improved loan terms, which could affect program capacity and tuition pricing in the nursing education sector.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Nursing students and practicing nurses with federal student loans gain access to more favorable repayment options and forgiveness programs designed for professionals with high debt loads. This reduces financial burden on a workforce critical to public health and may improve loan repayment outcomes for nurses.
Who stands to gain
- nursing students and graduates with federal student loans
- nurses employed in public service (government/nonprofit healthcare) seeking PSLF
Named in the bill
Department of Education, Higher Education Act of 1965, Section 455(a)(4)(C), 34 CFR 668.2, nursing degree programs (MSN, DNP, DNAP, Ph.D.)
Where it stands
7 cosponsors: 5 Republicans, 2 Democrats.
- May 19, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- May 19, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
19 lobbying clients named this bill on 19 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $6,761,986 in lobbying spend. A filing names 23 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 96% of bills with at least one filing.
Jeff Merkley, the sponsor, reported $514,925 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- American Hospital Association — $4,470,000 on 1 filing
- American Association of Nurse Practitioners — $400,000 on 1 filing
- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists — $275,000 on 1 filing
- American Nurses Association — $270,000 on 1 filing
- University of Rochester — $220,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 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 (1,365 characters) on Jun 3, 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 22, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
- S. 4568 on Congress.gov
- Actions and status history
- Cosponsors (7)
- Bill text the analysis read
- American Hospital Association — LDA filing, 2026 Q2
- American Association of Nurse Practitioners — LDA filing, 2026 Q2
- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists — LDA filing, 2026 Q2
- Jeff Merkley — FEC candidate receipts, 2026 cycle
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