CHICAGO (WLS) -- Nursing advocates are responding to the Trump administration's omission of nursing from its definition of "professional degree" programs.

The policy change limits access to federal loans for graduate students pursuing advanced nursing degrees.

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There are wide-ranging implications.

Nursing organizations nationwide are signaling concern over the Department of Education's classification of career paths that fall under the designation of "professional degrees."

However, the Department of Education says the federal definition of "professional degree" has been in effect for decades and has never included nursing.

"It's just such an insult to nurses everywhere," said Teresa Peterson, a post-anesthesia care nurse at UCh

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