Funding Maintained for Nurses and Healthcare Workers as Attorney General Jeff Jackson’s Lawsuit Continues

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 2, 2026
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RALEIGH - The U.S. Department of Education earlier this week announced that while the courts review the matter, advanced-practice nurses and other healthcare providers will be classified as "professional" degree students and can continue to take out the federal loans they need to complete their education. This comes after Attorney General Jeff Jackson sued the department over its new rule that unlawfully narrowed the definition of a "professional" degree - an illegal change that would have devastating consequences for North Carolina's healthcare workforce.

"Our fight is still ongoing, but this is good news for our nursing and healthcare students as they plan for their next school year," said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. "This is about making sure that North Carolina has the healthcare workforce it needs to take care of its people, and we're going to do everything we can to make that happen."

The new rule was set to take effect yesterday, July 1, but the Department of Education will not apply the unlawful rule after a court issued a preliminary stay in a related case. The stay will be in place until the case is resolved.

Congress created caps last year for how much graduate students can borrow from the federal government. It set the cap higher for what it considered "professional" degrees, which Congress said included nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, physician assistants, and other healthcare providers. But the Department of Education ignored Congress and excluded those from the definition of professional-degree holders. That change - in direct violation of law - meant that those graduate students could only receive half the federal student loan amounts that other professional degree holders could. With this latest development, those students can continue to receive the full amount.

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