4: Understanding the One Big Beautiful Bill Act & Its Impact on Nurse Anesthesia Education

The Department of Education is currently in an open public comment period, closing March 2, 2026. PLEASE, PLEASE click the link below to submit a comment to the Department of Education: https://aana.quorum.us/campaign/151823/ Today’s episode revisits a critical conversation about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed changes to federal student loan borrowing for graduate nursing education — including nurse anesthesia programs. According to the OBBBA and Department of Education, nurse anesthesia residents will only be able to borrow $20,500 per year of their nurse anesthesia program. If you are an aspiring CRNA, this directly affects whether your education is financially feasible. It affects access to nurse anesthesia programs. It affects the future workforce of our profession. In this episode, I revisit my conversation with Dr. Daniel King as we break down: • The timeline of the bill’s passage and Department of Education rule making • Proposed lifetime borrowing caps (100K vs. 200K) • The elimination of the Graduate PLUS loan program • Annual borrowing limits of $20,500 • Who will be affected and when implementation is scheduled • Why tuition is unlikely to decrease despite borrowing limits • Alternative funding pathways • And how the AANA and national advocacy efforts are responding We also discuss why CRNAs are uniquely positioned in this conversation — from workforce shortages to our historically low loan default rates and strong return on investment. The Department of Education is currently in an open public comment period, closing March 2, 2026. PLEASE, PLEASE click the link below to submit a comment to the Department of Education: https://aana.quorum.us/campaign/151823/ Department of Education Press Release which was discussed in the video: https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-announces-negotiated-rulemaking-implement-president-trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill Join the CRNA Mentor Community: https://facebook.com/groups/crnamentorcommunity Explore additional CRNA Mentor resources: https://stan.store/CRNAmentor New episodes drop every Monday — start your week off right with CRNA Mentor.