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Which specific doctoral and master's degrees were reclassified as non-professional by the U.S. Department of Education in 2025?
Executive summary
Available reporting in the provided sources does not list any specific doctoral or master’s degree programs that were reclassified as “non‑professional” by the U.S. Department of Education in 2025; the coverage instead focuses on broad organizational changes and a proposal process about how “professional degree” could be defined (not final reclassifications) [1] [2]. The most detailed item about program definition is a preliminary RISE Committee consensus that could exclude public health degrees such as the MPH and DrPH from the “professional degree” category, a proposal that the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) says would have major loan‑eligibility consequences [2].
1. What the public reporting actually says: agency reshuffling, not a named list
Multiple outlets summarize the Education Department’s November 2025 moves to shift offices and programs to other agencies — interagency agreements with Labor, Interior, HHS and State — and describe this as part of an effort to “break up” or shrink the Department; none of those news stories provide a named list of doctoral or master’s degrees reclassified as “non‑professional” [1] [3] [4] [5] [6]. The headlines and stories emphasize program transfers and institutional reorganizations rather than cataloging degree‑level reclassification decisions [1] [3].
2. One concrete proposal about “professional degree” definitions — public health highlighted
A separate item reports that a Department of Education RISE Committee reached preliminary consensus on a proposed definition of “professional degree programs” and that the proposal would exclude certain public health degrees — specifically pointing to the MPH (Master of Public Health) and DrPH (Doctor of Public Health) as potentially being excluded from the professional‑degree category [2]. That writeup stresses this is a committee proposal and that a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was expected to open a public comment period, meaning the change was not final at the time of reporting [2].
3. Why this matters: financial and workforce implications flagged by stakeholders
ASPPH warns that excluding MPH and DrPH from “professional degrees” could lower students’ access to higher federal loan limits and make public health education less affordable, potentially weakening the public‑health workforce pipeline — a concrete consequence discussed in reaction to the RISE Committee proposal [2]. The reporting frames the classification issue as consequential for student aid and institutional planning even while the regulatory process was ongoing [2].
4. What reporters and advocates are focused on instead: departmental dismantling and program transfers
Mainstream outlets — The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, CNBC and others — concentrate on the Administration’s broader agenda to move Education Department functions into other agencies and portray the moves as a strategic way to shrink the Department’s footprint; those accounts give program‑level examples (e.g., Indian education to Interior, foreign‑language education to State) but do not present a comprehensive list of degree reclassifications [4] [5] [3] [7] [8]. Coverage therefore frames institutional shifts and political context rather than cataloging degree titles [4] [1].
5. Limits of current coverage and what’s not found
Available sources do not mention a formal, published list of specific master’s or doctoral degrees that have already been reclassified as “non‑professional” by the Education Department in 2025; they do not show final regulatory text or an official Departmental announcement listing degrees by name [1] [2]. If you are looking for an authoritative, program‑by‑program roster, that is not present in the cited reporting [1] [2].
6. Practical next steps if you need confirmation or were affected
To verify final determinations, watch for (a) an official Department of Education Notice of Proposed Rulemaking or final rule text, and (b) department press releases or Federal Register entries listing the adopted definition and any named exclusions — neither of which are included in the current sources [1] [2]. Meanwhile, stakeholder groups such as the ASPPH are already mobilizing and will likely post updates during the public‑comment phase that would name affected degrees if and when the Department moves forward [2].
Sources cited in this briefing: U.S. Department of Education press release and news coverage of the November 2025 interagency agreements [1] [4] [3] [5], and ASPPH coverage of the RISE Committee’s preliminary proposal regarding “professional degree” definitions, which flags potential exclusion of MPH/DrPH and consequent loan‑limit effects [2].