WASHINGTON – A coalition of unions representing hundreds of thousands of public service and health care workers filed a lawsuit this week challenging the Department of Education’s new RISE rule. The rule follows a law that sets draconian new limits on the amount of federal student loans for graduate education in some of our nation’s most critical, and understaffed, professions. But the rule lawlessly compounds the problem by making many professional workers ineligible for the higher caps the law sets for “professional” students. The rule will severely impact degrees in advanced practice nursing, public health, social work, library sciences, and more by deeming these degrees to be “non-professional.” That designation will limit federal student loan support, exacerbating the staffing crisis in these public service professions.
The lawsuit argues that the Department of Education’s new rule illegally narrowed Congress’ definition of a “professional degree.” This excluded essential public service professions under a regulatory definition that has been in place for decades and was codified by Congress just last year. This administration is making the path to professional public service jobs unaffordable, thereby hurting communities that rely on these workers for critical care and services.
The union coalition filing the suit includes the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Nurses Union (NNU) and the AFL-CIO.
“The same administration that cut health care to give billionaires more tax cuts is now trying to make it impossible for advanced practice nurses, social workers, public health professionals, and others to afford the education they need to care for our communities,” saidAFSCME President Lee Saunders. “We are already facing staffing crises in too many public service professions, and this rule threatens to make the situation even more dire. The court must strike down this illegal rule to protect quality patient care, social services and public health, and ensure that workers aren’t priced out of these critical public service professions.”
“This decision to exclude graduate nursing students from professional loans is an attack on the nursing profession. The rule change affects nurses pursuing a graduate degree to be a nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, or certified nurse anesthetist,” said NNU President Jamie Brown, RN. “Graduate students pursuing a professional degree are eligible for more than twice as much funding for each academic year and twice as much total funding than graduate nursing students. It is an insult to our profession.
“One of the most cynical, cruel components of the Trump tax bill was the cuts to the higher education student loan program. Now the effect is clear: By ‘de-professionalizing’ nursing, architecture, social work, teaching and countless other careers, the Trump administration is eviscerating education access for poor and working-class students and their families and dismantling pathways to the middle class,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “The court must strike down this administration’s unlawful attack on college affordability. It tells students they aren’t valued and crushes their dreams. And it harms communities across the country who rely on the services these students would provide.”
“This rule shuts out the next generation of nurses, social workers and public health professionals before they even get started,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “The Department of Education may have decided these degrees don’t count as ‘professional’, but communities who rely on these essential services know that this couldn’t be farther from the truth. After kicking millions of working families off their health care, firing federal workers and gutting federal agencies, the administration is making it harder for working people to enter these careers and forcing <a href="https://healthylife7.com/report-shows-45-rural-hospitals-at-risk-of-closing-in-oklahoma/” title=”Report shows 45 rural hospitals at risk of closing in Oklahoma”>hospitals, clinics and state and local agencies to do even more with less. The AFL-CIO is in this fight because no worker who dedicates their life to public service should be priced out of it.”
