The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology urged the Department of Education to reconsider its proposal to define education for certified registered nurse anesthetists as a non-professional degree, which would cap unsubsidized student loans for future CRNAs at $100,000.
In a Nov. 26 news release, AANA said that this definition of CRNAs’ degree, stemming from a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the Department of Education’s draft definition of professional degrees” could be “devastating” for the CRNA workforce at a time when anesthesia shortages are plaguing healthcare systems.
“The Department of Education’s current draft definition creates an anticompetitive environment among anesthesia providers,” AANA President Jeff Molter, MSN, CRNA, said in the release “Critical care nurses pursuing careers as CRNAs could be pushed away from the profession if access to unsubsidized federal loans is capped, all while physician anesthesia residents continue to receive the full $200,000 loan allotment.”
CRNAs are required to hold a doctoral degree and are unable to receive Graduate Medical Education funds that are often utilized to pay resident physicians. This means that CRNAs often go unpaid during their clinical training, according to the release, and often rely heavily on student loans for their education.
“Capping loan amounts for nurse anesthesiology programs will not decrease tuition,” Mr. Molter continued. “Much like physician anesthesia programs, CRNA programs carry the cost of expensive equipment for training, malpractice insurance, and competitive pay for high-quality, experienced faculty. Current students have expressed grave concern, sharing that a $100,000 loan cap isn’t just a policy number on paper, but the difference between becoming a CRNA or a financial barrier pushing nurse anesthesiology out of reach for many.”
A white paper from Medicus Healthcare Solutions found that 75% of CRNAs reported practicing without physician oversight as of 2023. Additionally, CRNAs now account for over 80% of anesthesia providers in rural counties and administer more than 50 million anesthetics annually in the U.S., according to the report.
