I’ve known from a very young age that my goal in this life was to help people in some way. I did not discover how I wanted to help until my freshman year of college when I learned more about the different aspects of nursing.

It was then I learned that – as an aspiring nurse who did not enroll in the program as a freshman – I would need to attend an accelerated program after college to become the person I wanted to be.

But now, two years later, I may not be able to achieve this dream because of expenses. 

Thirty seven percent of the nurses today were like me. They attended college unsure of what they wanted to do and once they figured it out, enrolled in a second-degree nursing program, with help from the U.S. Department of Education to pay expenses that were not covered by other financial aid. More than 440,000 students per year rely on Graduate PLUS loans for graduate school. In addition, 78.2% of these students used their own savings or had family members pay, 45.2% used federal assisted loans, and 16.9% had other student loans.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was signed into law on July 4, 2025 by President Donald Trump eliminates the Graduate PLUS program and creates stricter borrowing caps for programs that it no longer considers professional. These newly declared “non-professional programs” include nurse practitioners, audiologists, physician assistants, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, and social workers.

When comparing the borrowing cap, professional programs get more than double the amount of the non-professional programs. Those deemed professional have a borrowing cap of up to $50,000, while the others – including nursing – have only $20,500 per year. To put this number into perspective, at Sacred Heart University a student’s tuition for the Second Degree Accelerated BSN is about $47,560 with a single credit costing $820.

This is shocking because some of the jobs we need the most get little to no funding and are no longer considered professions. If you want people joining this field, how do you expect them to get there with no assistance? 

Connecticut proposes to step into this gap with Senate Bill 8, which would provide state funding for students affected by the federal student loan changes. This bill creates a state-funded Supplemental Graduate School Program that is administered by Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority CHELSA. The non-profit agency provides affordable financing, loans, scholarships, and financial literacy resources that help Connecticut students pay for graduate school and manage debt.

On average, 89,600 Connecticut college students took out $1.216 billion in federal loans for ‘23-23. The elimination of the Graduate PLUS program puts many students at risk to not attend graduate school. But Connecticut’s program could help people like me who want to become the person they have always dreamed of, but cannot financially afford the correct schooling for it. 

In order for me and thousands of people to achieve our dreams, we need not only financial assistance, but respect. Being labeled as an “non-professional” program is the complete opposite of our job and qualifications. I don’t want us to be ignored. The beginning of many careers are already coming to an end before they even started. I strongly urge support for this bill to not only aid Connecticut students financially, but help achieve their dreams. 

Kaylee Ferlanti is a junior at Sacred Heart University majoring in Health Sciences.