A major change to federal student loans could shut low-income students out of the nursing field — and educators say the impact could ripple through hospitals nationwide. Inside the nursing lab at Lehman College, students practice hands-on skills they’ll take directly into patient care. Deputy program director Darcel Reyes said nearly all of her students come from low-income Bronx families, and for many, nursing is a path out of poverty. “One of the things nursing does is move people into a higher economic level,” said Reyes. But Reyes worries a new Department of Education rule could put that opportunity out of reach. Graduate students will now be capped at $100,000 in federal loans starting July 1— limits the department calls “common sense” efforts to rein in tuition costs. Reyes said she doubts schools will cut prices soon and fears students will be pushed toward private loans with much higher interest rates. For some nurses, federal loans were the only way forward. Dania Munoz, now a nurse practitioner at Mount Sinai, completed her graduate degree at Columbia University — a $212,000 program funded entirely by federal loans. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that by myself, honestly,” said Munoz. Munoz grew up in Section 8 housing, raised by immigrant parents in The Bronx who stressed the importance of education but couldn’t afford its cost. “We just couldn’t afford it,” said Munoz. “My mom was always like, ‘You have to get an education,’ because she wanted me to have the life that she couldn’t have.” Munoz said she now worries that students with backgrounds like hers will be shut out. “People like me who grew up low income and dream about going to an Ivy League probably won’t be able to afford that higher education,” said added. As hospitals face ongoing staffing shortages, educators warn that fewer students entering graduate nursing programs could deepen the crisis. As baby boomers start to retire, Reyes warns there may not be enough new nurses to fill that gap, leading to less research and a lower quality of health care services for patients. For many aspiring nurses, the question may soon shift from whether they can handle the demands of the job to whether they can afford to enter the field at all.