CINCINNATI, Ohio — The nursing community is raising alarms over new federal student-loan rules that reclassify many advanced nursing degrees, lowering the maximum loans students can receive and potentially affecting the next generation of nurses.
“Just coming out of the pandemic where we were told that we were essential, and that we were heroes — and now to see the administration make a decision that doesn’t even recognize us as ‘professional’ is incredibly insulting,” said Rick Lucas, president of the Ohio Nurses Association (ONA).
Megan Romero, a senior in the University of Cincinnati’s four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program, is one student watching the changes closely. Romero plans to specialize in pediatrics and hopes to eventually pursue advanced practice as a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA)…