Nursing is not officially classified as a STEM field by the U.S. federal government. Despite heavy coursework in biology, chemistry, and anatomy, nursing falls under “Health Professions and Related Programs” in the federal classification system, not under science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. This distinction matters more than you might expect, affecting everything from scholarship eligibility to immigration benefits.
The answer gets more complicated, though, depending on which agency’s definition you’re using and what level of nursing education you’re talking about. Here’s what the classification actually means and where it hits hardest.
How the Federal Government Classifies Nursing
Every degree program in the United States is assigned a Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code by the National Center for Education Statistics. Nursing programs fall under CIP code 51.38, which sits within the broader “Health Professions” category. The federal definition describes nursing as “a program that generally prepares individuals in the knowledge, techniques and procedures for promoting health, providing care for sick, disabled, infirmed, or other individuals or groups.”
The Department of Homeland Security maintains a separate STEM Designated Degree Program List, last updated in July 2024, that determines which degrees qualify for certain immigration and workforce benefits. No nursing CIP codes appear on that list. While the Health Professions category (series 51) does include a handful of programs like clinical laboratory science, pharmaceutical sciences, medical informatics, and environmental health, every nursing-specific code is excluded.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics draws its own STEM boundary. Its definition covers “computer and mathematical, architecture and engineering, and life and physical science occupations,” along with related managerial and teaching roles. Registered nurses don’t fall within that definition either.
Why Nursing Looks Like STEM on Paper
If you’ve looked at a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) curriculum, the exclusion can feel arbitrary. A typical BSN requires significant science prerequisites before students ever touch clinical coursework. At Ohio University, for example, nursing students complete 5 credit hours of chemistry with a lab component and 8 credit hours of anatomy and physiology across two semesters. Programs across the country also require microbiology, statistics, and in many cases organic chemistry or biochemistry.
Once inside the nursing program itself, coursework in pharmacology, pathophysiology, and evidence-based practice builds directly on those science foundations. Nursing students learn how drugs interact at the cellular level, how diseases progress through body systems, and how to interpret research data to guide clinical decisions. By credit hours alone, the science content in a BSN rivals or exceeds many programs that do carry STEM designation.
At the doctoral level, the overlap becomes even more striking. Nursing science programs (CIP code 51.3808) focus on advanced research methodologies, clinical and translational research, and experimental design. The federal definition of this program describes it as focusing on “the study of advanced clinical practices, research methodologies, the administration of complex nursing services” and preparing nurses “to further the progress of nursing research through experimentation and clinical applications.” Advocates have pointed out that this language is nearly identical to the definition of Medical Science/Scientist (CIP code 51.1401), which is on the STEM list.
Where the Classification Hits Hardest: Immigration
The most concrete consequence of nursing’s exclusion from the STEM list falls on international students. Under current rules, F-1 visa holders who earn a degree in a STEM-designated field can apply for a 24-month extension of their Optional Practical Training (OPT), giving them up to 36 total months of work authorization in the United States after graduation. Students with non-STEM degrees get only 12 months.
For an international student who completes a nursing degree at a U.S. university, that missing two years of work authorization can be the difference between building a career in the U.S. and being forced to leave. This is especially significant given the nationwide nursing shortage. Hospitals need nurses, qualified international graduates want to stay, and the classification system creates a barrier between the two.
A 2024 paper published in a nursing policy journal laid out the stakes plainly: the exclusion “prevents societal recognition of nursing as a science and limits attraction of clinicians and nurse scientists born outside of the United States.” The authors argued that STEM designation would provide international nursing scientists the same opportunities to establish themselves in the U.S. workforce that other scientists already have.
The Push To Change the Classification
There is an active advocacy effort to get nursing science added to the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List. The campaign focuses specifically on the doctoral-level nursing science code (51.3808), arguing that its research orientation makes it functionally indistinguishable from other STEM-designated medical science programs.
Nursing organizations, including the American Nurses Association and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, have been part of broader conversations about expanding visa pathways for nursing professionals. Congressional discussions about H-1B visa expansion have touched on nursing, though no legislative change has been enacted. Advocates have encouraged direct outreach to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), which administers the STEM list, requesting that nursing science be added.
The policy goals extend beyond immigration. Proponents argue that STEM designation would open doors to additional federal research funding, improve public perception of nursing as a scientific discipline, increase diversity among doctoral nursing students, and help address the ongoing shortage of nursing faculty at universities.
Scholarships and Funding: A Mixed Picture
Whether nursing students can access STEM-specific financial aid depends entirely on how a particular scholarship defines its eligibility. Some programs use the strict DHS STEM list, which would exclude nursing. Others use broader definitions that encompass health sciences.
The VA’s Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship, for instance, explicitly includes “health care or a health-care-related field” among its approved fields of study. So nursing students using VA education benefits can qualify. Private STEM scholarships vary widely. Some restrict eligibility to engineering and computer science, while others include any science-heavy health program. You’ll need to check each scholarship’s specific criteria rather than assuming nursing is included or excluded.
What This Means for You
If you’re a U.S. citizen considering nursing school and wondering whether it “counts” as STEM for purposes of career prestige or academic rigor, the practical answer is that nursing draws heavily from STEM disciplines but isn’t formally categorized as one. Your coursework in biology, chemistry, and statistics is real science, and employers know it.
If you’re an international student, the classification matters significantly. Nursing degrees do not currently qualify for the STEM OPT extension, which limits your post-graduation work options in the United States. Some international students strategically pursue a STEM-designated degree (like medical informatics or public health with a biostatistics focus) alongside or before their nursing education to preserve OPT extension eligibility, though the employment must be directly related to the STEM degree.
If you’re applying for scholarships or grants labeled “STEM only,” read the fine print. The definition of STEM varies from one program to the next, and nursing sometimes qualifies under broader health-science umbrellas even when it doesn’t meet the narrowest federal definition.