AONL Issues Advocacy Alert Opposing Nursing Program Cuts

AONL urges nursing leaders to ask their congressional members to oppose fiscal year 2026 cuts to nursing workforce programs. The administration’s leaked fiscal year 2026 budget proposal would cut nearly all Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs except the Nurse Corps scholarship program and dissolve the National Institute of Nursing Research. Cutting Title VIII programs ─ the cornerstone of federal support for nursing education in the U.S. ─ would exacerbate workforce shortages, widen health disparities, reduce patient access to care, compromise patient safety, devastate innovation and hinder the development of future nurses. AONL urges its members to ask for a $530 million appropriation for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs and $210 million for NINR as an independent institute within the National Institutes of Health.