Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) deliver the majority of anesthesia care in the United States. We practice where patients need us — from urban hospitals to rural clinics, from the Veterans Health Administration to the front lines of military service. Terri Williams At a time when healthcare provider shortages are worsening, investing in CRNA education is essential to ensuring safe, accessible, high-quality anesthesia care for surgery, trauma, obstetrics and pain management. Yet a recent federal policy threatens the future of prospective nurse anesthesia students, and by extension, the CRNA workforce in Connecticut and across the country. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the U.S. Department of Education established a federal unsubsidized loan cap of $100,000 for graduate students and $200,000 for professional students. As part of this legislation, nurse anesthesia students were classified as graduate students, while physician anesthesia residents were designated as professional students and therefore qualify for twice the amount of federal loan funding. This discrepancy is inequitable and will have a profound effect on our pipeline of future CRNAs — the clinicians Connecticut and communities across the U.S. rely on every day. As an educator and practicing CRNA, I know firsthand that advanced education and financial support are not optional luxuries; they are prerequisites for developing the expertise needed to save lives. CRNAs must earn a doctoral degree and complete extensive, unpaid clinical training, often exceeding 9,000 clinical hours. During this three-year, full-time academic and clinical commitment, students are unable to work. They rely on federal loans not only for tuition but also for essential cost of living expenses. Yet due to a technicality in the federal policy, nurses are excluded from the “professional student” category, despite meeting or exceeding the educational rigor required by accrediting and licensing bodies. Unlike physician residents, nurse anesthesia residents do not receive Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding; they rely heavily on student loans. Program costs are substantial, and the proposed loan cap would make the profession financially unattainable for many qualified applicants. View this post on Instagram If the U.S. Department of Education does not act, the consequences will be severe. The nation already faces a critical shortage of more than 9,000 anesthesia providers. Restricting access to CRNA education will deepen this crisis, threatening patient access to essential surgical and procedural care. In Connecticut, the impact would be immediate and far-reaching. Programs affiliated with Central Connecticut State University (Integrated Anesthesia Associates’ Nurse Anesthesia Program of Hartford and Yale New Haven Hospital School of Nurse Anesthesia) and Fairfield University would be at risk for declining enrollment and reduced diversity in the applicant pool. During National CRNA Week, January 18-24, policymakers should honor “The Heart of Anesthesia” not just with recognition but with meaningful action. As president of the Connecticut Association of Nurse Anesthesiology, I urge federal leaders to update the loan limit to reflect the true cost of CRNA education. Protecting access to our programs is essential in ensuring that patients, especially those in rural and underserved communities, continue to receive safe, high-quality anesthesia care. The future of our workforce and the well-being of the patients we serve depends on it. Terri Williams, CRNA, APRN is President of the Connecticut Association of Nurse Anesthesiology. ...read more read less