Back to News Policy Watch: Only Six Days Left to Submit Comments! Wednesday, February 25, 2026 | Policy & Advocacy Only 6 Days Left to Submit Comments to the Department of Education! With only a few days left for stakeholders to respond to the Department of Education’s (ED) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which does not include post-baccalaureate nursing programs as professional degrees, we need your help! Here are the actions you can take today: Submit Comments: Send comments to ED through AACN’s Action Center before the Monday, March 2 deadline. Specifically, we encourage you to choose from the three tailored comments below and personalize your message. For Faculty and Deans For Students For Advocates and Supporters Email your Members of Congress: Send a message urging your federal policymaker to sign on to a bipartisan, bicameral congressional comment letter supporting the inclusion of nursing as a professional degree in ED’s rulemaking. The deadline for members of Congress to join this letter is this Friday, February 27. Share these opportunities with all of your networks as we work to have as many personalized comments as possible submitted to ED. Thank you to the more than 1,900 AACN Advocates who have already submitted their comments to the ED. Let’s keep the momentum going as we approach the March 2 deadline! Additional Ways to Support Nursing as a Professional Degree Are you a member of a state or national association? If so, please share our Nursing and Friends letter with these organizations and have them join more than 150 (and counting!) state and national professional associations in support of nursing as a professional degree. For more information, visit AACN’s Nursing is a Professional Degree Hub for one-pagers, talking points, and other resources related to this rulemaking process and ongoing response efforts, including from our congressional champions. Nursing as a Professional Degree in the News On February 20, Congresswoman, and nurse practitioner, Sheri Biggs (R-SC-03) issued a press release calling on the Department of Education to include nursing as a professional degree. On February 23, Congresswoman and nurse, Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14), posted another video encouraging members of the public to submit comments to the Department of Education advocating for nursing as a professional degree. View all updates from Policy Watch