DeLauro Statement on Trump Administration Attacks on Nursing Education

WASHINGTON - Today, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) released the following statement regarding the Department of Education's new efforts to exclude nursing from its definition of professional occupations, limiting the amount of federal student loans available to nursing students:

"America is facing a nursing shortage of over 195,000 unfilled positions, projected to grow to 400,000 by the end of this decade. Nurses do the vital and difficult day to day work of caring for patients while making sure exam rooms, operating rooms, and ER's are functioning for when we need them most. We should be investing in every stage of our nursing development pipeline, from high school to college to post-graduate degrees and certifications, to address this shortfall, not making it more difficult to train and retain nurses in our hospitals. We also must address the skyrocketing cost of education in this country.

"Instead, President Trump has been focused on making education less affordable and less available to American students. His Education Department-what is left of it-has proposed classifying nursing degrees as non-professional graduate degrees, limiting the federal financial aid they are eligible for and limiting opportunities for nurses to pursue advanced degrees and education that could help them better care for their patients, or become practitioners in the future.

"This is an insult to the dedicated people who study for years to become nurses, and forcing advanced nursing students to turn to private loans could be a significant roadblock for those who want to continue their educational and professional journeys to better care for their patients. Our overburdened nursing workforce will shrink even further if these rules go into effect, and American patients will ultimately pay the price. The Trump Administration must immediately reverse this short-sighted policy, and give our nurses the respect and opportunities they deserve."

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