ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A Department of Education change in designation removing nursing from the list of professional degrees, could affect nursing students’ ability to more affordably get a graduate degree.
Lisa Muirhead, Senior Associate Dean at the Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, says anything that keeps nursing students from fulfilling their goals is a detriment to their profession.
“We need professional nurses on the front line caring for individuals,” said Muirhead. “Students will have to reach out and secure private loans which may have higher interest rates.”
Dean Linda McCauley is also concerned.
“In the escalating need for healthcare providers, why would you put up roadblocks? And that’s what this DOE action is doing,” said McCauley.
McCauley says the average debt of an Emory Nursing Masters degree student is $100,000.
Under this bill, only “professional degree” students will be eligible for the higher loan limit of $200,000, while graduate students are capped at $100,000, Newsweek reports.
“So you imagine if that’s a federally backed loan versus a private loan, an interest rate of 5 versus 15%,” said McCauley.
Muirhead says that much higher tuition could mean fewer nurses and that means less healthcare opportunities for everyone else.
“The wait times to access emergency services delays in clinic appointment times access to maternal health, behavioral health, oncology services, for the geriatric and aging population, we will all be affected,” said Muirhead.
McCauley says this move by the DOE doesn’t make sense.
“I don’t take it that they had studied the situation fully and had made a reasoned decision,” said McCauley.
Both Deans hopeful that this potential change can be reverse course.
We reached out to the Department of Education to get specific facts on this and clarification but have not heard back.
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