Article: https://www.newsweek.com/nursing-not-professional-degree-trump-admin-11079650
"The department determined that the following programs were professional: medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, law, veterinary medicine, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, chiropractic, theology and clinical psychology.
This meant that physician assistants, nurse practitioners, physical therapists and audiologist were excluded from the list."
Additional Article: https://www.nasfaa.org/news-item/37609/Neg_Reg_Continues_Discussion_of_Program_of_Study_Legacy_Provisions_and_New_Professional_Degree_Definition?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Criteria for being considered professional:
"1. A professional degree is a degree that:
(i) Signifies both completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor's degree:
(ii) Is generally at the doctoral level, and that requires at least six academic years of postsecondary education coursework for completion, including at least two years of post-baccalaureate level coursework:
(iii) Generally requires professional licensure to begin practice; and
(iv) Includes a four-digit program CIP code, as assigned by the institution or determined by the Secretary, in the same intermediate group as the fields listed in paragraph (2) (i) of this definition.
(i) Pharmacy (Pharm.D.), Dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.), Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.), Law (L.L.B. or J.D.), Medicine (M.D.), Optometry (O.D.), Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.), Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.), Theology (M.Div., or M.H.L.), and Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.)
(3) A professional student under this definition:
(i) May not receive title IV aid as an undergraduate student for the same period of enrollment; and
(ii) Must be enrolled in a program leading to a professional degree under paragraph (2) of this definition.”
I have mixed feelings on this, because I have a great respect for each of these fields. I think each healthcare team member is vitally important (from the sanitation technician to the physician). My dad is a PT (DPT, OCS), and to think of him as not a professional, given his level of expertise, seems short-sighted. I also hate the idea of people not being able to afford to become a nurse, PA, PT, etc., because their loans are capped at a much lower tier, because they are not "professional" degrees. Overall, I am just not sure if this is a W or L.
TL;DR Loans are going to be capped lower for non-"professional" degrees per a new definition created by the Dept of Ed; nursing, PT, PA, and others appear to not qualify as professional per new guidelines to be potentially implemented July 2026.