Act Now
AANP has provided a template for you to send a letter to the Department of Education related to the rulemaking on the definition of “professional degree”; however, it will be important for you to customize the letter. Your personal story matters and will help illustrate the impact of this proposed change. Below are suggestions for topics to include in your letter.
Quick Tips for Your Letter to Department of Education
Nurse Practitioner Student
- Why did you decide to become a nurse practitioner, and how would this change have impacted your decision?
- Would you have decided to enroll in your current program if this change had already been in effect?
- Do you have federal loans, and if so, why did you choose to access federal student loans instead of private loans? For example, federal loan payments can be deferred until after graduation, but many private loans cannot. Would you be able to work to pay off the loans while you are in your program?
- How do you see this impacting the next generation of NP students? Or care provided in your community?
Practicing NP
- How did access to federal student loans impact your career path?
- Would you have had to make different career choices if you were required to obtain other types of loans?
- If this leads to fewer students enrolling in NP programs, what would that mean to access to healthcare in your community?
- Talk about your day-to-day practice, what care are you providing to your community?
- How did your NP program prepare you to practice to the full extent of your education and clinical training?
Faculty
- What are the costs of educating and training NPs? How will this rule hinder your school’s ability to do so?
- What are the differences that you have seen from the perspective of an educator on federal v. other loans? How does that impact career choices post-graduation?
- What are the demands on an NP student in terms of class work and clinical hours, in order to prepare them to practice after graduation? If they were not able to defer loan payments until after graduation, how would that impact the learning experience?
- How would this impact access to students who come from rural and underserved backgrounds?
- How would this change impact the future pipeline of NPs?
Other interested party/ family member/patient
- Describe your community’s access to health care.
- What does your NP mean to you and your health?
- What would health care access look like for your family/community if your NP or NPs were not present to provide care?