Add Nursing To Professional Degree List

Summary#

This bill changes the legal definition of a "professional degree" inside the Higher Education Act. It removes a cross-reference to the federal regulations and adds a new statutory definition with a list of degrees that count as professional degrees. The change explicitly includes several nursing degrees (MSN, DNP, DNAP, or Ph.D.) on the list.

  • Main change: Replaces the prior regulatory cross-reference with a statutory definition of “professional degree.”
  • Explicit list: Names many traditional professional degrees (medicine, law, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, clinical psychology, theology, chiropractic, optometry, podiatry, osteopathy) and adds nursing degrees (MSN, DNP, DNAP, Ph.D.).
  • Secretary’s role: Gives the Secretary of Education authority to decide if other degrees meet the definition.
  • Scope: Applies to the definition used in the cited part of the Higher Education Act (affecting how “professional student” is defined under that law).

What it means for you#

  • Nursing students: Nursing degrees listed (MSN, DNP, DNAP, Ph.D.) would be treated as “professional degrees” under the specific part of the Higher Education Act that this changes. This could affect how federal student-aid rules treat those students.
  • Other graduate students: Students in the other listed fields (medicine, law, pharmacy, etc.) remain explicitly identified as professional-degree holders in the statute.
  • Borrowers and applicants for federal student aid: This change could change who is classified as a “professional student” for programs or rules that use that statutory definition. The bill text does not say exactly which loan limits, repayment options, or eligibility rules will change.
  • Colleges and universities: Schools will need to apply the new statutory list when reporting or certifying students under the Higher Education Act provisions that use this definition.
  • Department of Education (federal administrators): The Department may need to update guidance, forms, and processes to reflect the new statutory definition and to implement the Secretary’s decisions about other degrees.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

  • The bill text does not include a fiscal note or cost estimate.
  • This change may cause administrative costs for the Department of Education and for institutions to update rules, reporting, and guidance, but no dollar estimates are provided.
  • If the reclassification changes borrowing patterns (for example, if different loan limits apply), there could be impacts on federal loan volumes or repayments; the bill does not provide data on that.

Proponents' View#

  • The bill appears intended to make clear that advanced nursing degrees are professional degrees, aligning nursing with other health and practice professions.
  • Supporters may argue this brings parity for nursing in federal law so nursing degrees are treated the same way as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and law.
  • The change could be seen as reducing reliance on a separate regulatory definition by putting an explicit statutory list in law.
  • By specifying degrees, the bill aims to remove ambiguity about whether particular nursing degrees count as professional degrees under the cited Higher Education Act provision.

Opponents' View#

  • One concern is that putting a fixed list in statute can be less flexible than using the regulatory definition it replaces; adding new professions in future would require further statutory change unless the Secretary invokes the “any other degree” clause.
  • The bill does not clearly say which federal student-aid rules or limits will change when a student is classified as a “professional student,” so the practical consequences for borrowers are unclear.
  • The language gives the Secretary discretion to decide whether “other” degrees meet the definition; it is unclear what criteria the Secretary will use.
  • Removing the cross-reference to the existing regulation could create temporary confusion about which definition governs until guidance is issued.

What is unclear: The bill does not specify which specific federal aid rules or loan programs will be affected, how soon the change would start to apply, or what criteria the Secretary will use to add other degrees.