Proposed Federal Budget Changes Could Worsen the Nursing Faculty Shortage, Experts Warn
- Joshua Barrett, PhD, RN, and Zoey Kernoodle, DrPH, from UNC-Chapel Hill raised concerns about ongoing shortages of qualified nursing faculty amid budget cuts.
- In 2023–2024, nursing programs turned away more than 65,000 qualified applicants, with faculty shortages cited as a major reason.
- Salary disparities discourage nurses from pursuing careers in academia, with APRNs earning approximately $30,000 more annually.
A recent JAMA Health Forum viewpoint by Joshua Barrett, PhD, RN, and Zoey Kernodle, DrPH, from UNC-Chapel Hill raises a crucial warning: proposed U.S. federal budget changes could unintentionally worsen the nation’s long-term nursing shortage by destabilizing the pipeline of nursing educators.
Federal budget proposals aiming to address the nation’s nursing shortage could backfire by undermining the workforce of educators needed to train future nurses, according to health policy experts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In a March 20th JAMA Health Forum viewpoint, Joshua Barrett, PhD, RN, associate director for UNC’s Center for the Business of Health, and Zoey Kernodle, DrPH, the center’s director, cautioned that recent federal budget drafts place short-term emphasis on recruiting clinical nurses “without thoughtful consideration for the faculty needed to train more nurses, not only for the present moment, but also for decades to come.”
The article, titled “Funding Nurse Recruitment While Defunding Nurse Educators,” warns that two major policy changes in the proposed fiscal 2026 budget could strain the nation’s nursing education system: potential cuts to the Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) and new limits on federal student loans for advanced nursing degrees.
Threat to the Nurse Faculty Loan Program
The NFLP, which provides loan forgiveness to nurses who become faculty members, faced possible elimination under H.R. 1—the House’s 2026 fiscal budget bill. Although the program ultimately received funding, Barrett and Kernodle wrote that “recurring proposals for its elimination suggest its future remains tenuous.”
That uncertainty comes at a time when nursing schools are struggling to meet demand. During the 2023–2024 academic year, U.S. nursing programs turned away more than 65,000 qualified applicants due primarily to a lack of available faculty, according to the authors. Without expanded teaching capacity, they warned, recruitment incentives alone will fail to grow the nursing workforce. A recent study conducted by the AACN found 2,166 full-time faculty vacancies nationally, an 8.8% vacancy rate, with approximately one-third of nursing faculty active in 2015 expected to retire by 2025.
Loan Changes Could Limit Education Access
Compounding the problem are proposed changes to the government's categorization of nursing degree programs. If nursing were reclassified as a ‘graduate’ vs. 'professional' program, borrowing limits for some students could be reduced—from $200,000 to $100,000—for students seeking Master of Science in Nursing or Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degrees.
Those DNP graduates, Barrett and Kernodle note, make up a large share of U.S. nursing faculty. “With loan limit reductions and proposed elimination occurring simultaneously,” they wrote, “prospective nursing faculty face a double constraint: reduced borrowing capacity for their education and eliminated loan forgiveness for faculty service.”
Salary Disparities Compound the Issue
Even as federal policies add financial barriers, pay disparities between clinical and academic nursing roles continue to discourage nurses from teaching. Advanced practice registered nurses earn a median salary of roughly $129,480, compared with $93,958 for nursing faculty positions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nursing faculty wages increased 1.4% compared with 4.7% for clinical RNs between 2021 and 2022. Additionally, a 2024 study found that 57% of full-time faculty reported needing secondary employment.
Barrett and Kernodle call for policymakers to secure stable funding for the NFLP, revisit student loan limits, and address pay inequities between clinical and academic nursing. “Without targeted support for nurse educators,” the authors argue, “the U.S. risks compounding its workforce shortage for generations.”
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