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Which specific bachelor's degrees did the Department of Education label non-professional in 2025?
Executive summary
The Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking in November 2025 narrowed which graduate programs count as “professional” under the One Big Beautiful Bill rules, cutting an internal list from roughly 2,000 to under 600 programs and naming about 11 primary program types as professional — a move that implicitly leaves many other degrees out of the professional category, including nursing, public health, and social work in the draft consensus [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and advocacy groups say the proposal explicitly excludes advanced nursing (MSN, DNP, NP), public health degrees (MPH, DrPH), and social work programs from that professional classification as the Department prepares a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [4] [3] [5].
1. What the Department actually did: a narrower professional-degree list
The Department convened a RISE committee that reached preliminary consensus on a tighter definition of “professional degree,” reducing the number of programs that qualify for higher federal graduate loan limits from about 2,000 to fewer than 600 and recognizing “only 11 primary programs as well as some doctoral programs” as professional for the purposes of the new rules [2] [1]. That consensus is part of rulemaking to implement student loan provisions of H.R.1 / the One Big Beautiful Bill and is being translated into a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [2] [3].
2. Specific degrees reported as excluded in initial coverage
Multiple outlets and professional groups reported that the Department’s draft excludes several graduate health and service degrees from the professional category — for example, advanced nursing degrees (MSN, DNP, NP), public health degrees such as the MPH and DrPH, and social work programs (BSW, MSW) — which would limit access to higher loan caps for those students under the new structure [4] [3] [6] [5]. Newsweek, Nurse.org, Blavity and organizational statements all emphasize nursing’s omission as a key consequence [4] [6] [7].
3. Who is counted as “professional” under the draft — and who isn’t
Reporting and the committee summary say the negotiated rules intentionally narrow eligibility and list roughly 11 core program types that remain “professional,” plus select doctorate programs; commentators from AEI argue that programs with lower borrowing patterns (e.g., Ed.D., MSW) were sensibly excluded, while universities and professional associations counter that many clinical and licensure-focused programs were also removed [2] [8] [5]. The Department’s internal explanation to Newsweek asserts the change aligns with historical precedent, though not all stakeholders accept that framing [4].
4. Immediate consequences advocates warn about
Advocates and professional groups warn the exclusion of degrees such as nursing, public health, occupational and physical therapy, clinical psychology, and social work will reduce graduate students’ access to higher federal loan limits, possibly hampering workforce pipelines in already strained fields and making graduate training less affordable [1] [3] [5]. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing and other organizations publicly criticized the change as undermining licensure-focused professional pathways [4].
5. Disagreement and competing perspectives
The Department’s press office told Newsweek that claims nursing was “reclassified” are “fake news at its finest,” and said the proposed definition reflects long-standing consensus language; simultaneously, university groups and professional associations say the committee’s draft will declassify many programs that have long been considered professional [4] [2]. Policy analysts such as AEI defend narrowing eligibility on borrowing-pattern grounds, while education and health organizations argue the change ignores licensure and practice realities [8] [5].
6. What’s procedural: proposed rule vs. final rule and what’s next
The RISE committee’s agreement is a preliminary, negotiated outcome that the Education Department is expected to publish as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, opening a 30-day comment period; until the notice is published and finalized, the list remains a draft subject to change through public comments and further departmental action [3] [2]. Advocacy groups are already organizing responses and warning of workforce impacts if exclusions remain [3] [5].
7. Limits of current reporting and unanswered specifics
Available sources document that the list was dramatically reduced and that many health and human service degrees (notably nursing, MPH/DrPH, and social work) were reported as excluded in the committee’s draft, but none of the provided items supplies a single definitive, public, line-by-line government list of every specific bachelor’s or graduate CIP-coded degree reclassified in 2025 — the precise, exhaustive roster of “non‑professional” bachelor’s degrees is not published in the materials supplied here [1] [2] [3]. The Department’s proposed rule text—if published—will be the authoritative source for the final list [2] [3].
Bottom line: reporting and professional groups say the Department’s negotiated draft sharply narrows “professional” degree eligibility and explicitly excludes several graduate health and social‑service degrees (nursing, MPH/DrPH, social work among them), but the full, official list of every bachelor’s or other degree reclassified will be confirmed only when the Department publishes the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and final rule [1] [4] [3] [2].