Nursing gains 'professional' label for student loans after judge's ruling, but theology now dropped

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 7:20 PM EDT, June 29, 2026


WASHINGTON (AP) — Students pursuing graduate degrees in nursing, physical therapy and several other fields will be eligible to take out higher federal student loan amounts — at least for now — after a federal judge blocked part of a Trump administration rule that held them to lower limits.

The U.S. Education Department issued a revised rule on Monday designed to follow the judge’s order from last week, officials told The Associated Press. Agency officials called it a temporary change while they fight in court to keep the original rule, which defined medicine, law and other fields as “professional programs” but excluded fields such as nursing.

The department disagrees with the judge’s order but will comply, even as officials plan to prevail in the case over which degrees are defined as “professional,” Undersecretary Nicholas Kent said in a statement. “We will continue to make the case that the definition is both lawful and appropriate,” he said.

The change represents a short-term win for groups that sued to stop the rule. Eight groups challenged the department’s definition in court, representing nurse practitioners, therapists, speech language pathologists and more.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/nursing-student-loans-professional-caps-theology-061ef7c1a98688e5338ff5128821a7b9

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REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143685050 (has earlier references)

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. A theology degree ought to be dirt cheap to provide

All you have to do is discuss previous and current opinions on theology. No practical work at all.

I suppose you could make a similar argument about law; but law does at least require precision in discussing past practice. With theology, it really is subjective. Persuading competent lawyers to teach (part or full time) rather than practice can be expensive, I suppose; you'd think theology professors wouldn't have the option of earning big bucks elsewhere.

[ret5hd]

7. "God did it."...

“Excellent final thesis, Bob! No oral questions needed, i don’t think! Panel, what say you?”

“We are unanimous sir! Yes, god DID do it!”

[SergeStorms]

2. A victory....

for logic and reason. For once.

[GB_RN]

3. As A Nurse...

I am beyond offended and angry with the Caligula (mal)administration in general, and Linda McMahon in particular, WRT their arbitrary change of our (nurses, et al) status to “nonprofessional” degrees. Which degree programs are defined as professional, were set by Congress and there was no language suggesting that the DoE could make any kind of changes like this. I’d say that, based on law, Caligula and Company would lose this case all the way up the chain. However, with the John Roberts and his five, corrupt accomplices, I don’t trust them to rule that the law says what it says. No, they’re apt to say we misunderstand the (plain goddamned) language of the text and it really means the exact opposite.

They can go get f**ked with a rusty, wire pipe brush.

[riversedge]

5. i was shocked when it was announced a few weeks ago, on again and off agai--that is the chaos we are

living under with Trumpers!!

[intheflow]

4. For an administration that touts Christianity as their guiding philosophy,

cutting theology seems antithetical to their cause. But as someone who attended seminary, I can assure you the reason they did this is because they don't want scholars to lead their churches. They want people who pull "theology" out of their twisted minds and asses, the folks who use the Bible to justify slavery, launching illegal wars, etc. Real theology programs teach the history of the church and the many varieties of Christianity, and encourage spirited debate about interpretations and meaning. But anyone can become a minister in most Protestant religions, because God can reveal Godself to anyone at any time. So these folks think going to school to learn about the religion you're going to lead is not only a waste, it goes against God's will to reveal Themselves to the "deserving."

[Martin68]

6. Well, that was a no-brainer.