December 29, 2025
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More than 150 members of Congress from both parties recently signed a letter to the Department of Education, urging that nursing degrees be reclassified as professional degrees. “Nurses and nurse faculty make up the backbone of our health system, and post-baccalaureate nursing degrees lead to demonstrated outcomes, with a recent study from the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity showing that nursing was one of the top three master’s degrees for return on investment,” the letter said. “As such, post-baccalaureate nursing degrees should be treated equally to other accredited post-baccalaureate health profession degrees.” Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, the President of the American Nurses Association, said that the exclusion of nurses from the department’s list of degrees brings real consequences, including stoking discouragement from pursuing graduate degrees, which are required for teaching programs, and would hurt the growth of the workforce. Despite that, Mensik Kennedy is happy to see that there is public support for nurses. “It was wonderful
to see, and we're continuing to reach out and get more support from everyone
I know,” Mensik Kennedy said to Chief Healthcare Executive. “I've gotten personal
emails from individuals, not even nurses, from across the country and across
the world about their support. So, I'm really hopeful that we'll continue
with this energy around this very issue.” |
