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Which specific programs or majors were removed from professional degree lists in the 2025 reclassification?
Executive summary
The Department of Education’s late-2025 proposal to narrow the regulatory definition of “professional degree” would keep only a small set of programs (medicine, law, dentistry, pharmacy are repeatedly cited as retained) while removing many health, education, and allied‑health fields—most prominently graduate nursing programs (MSN, DNP, APRN variants), physician assistant, occupational therapy, physical therapy, audiology, speech‑language pathology, social work, public health (MPH, DrPH), counseling/therapy, and certain education degrees—from that category [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and organizational statements show the change is tied to new borrowing caps under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and is currently a proposed/regulatory action with active pushback [4] [2].
1. What the reclassification text proposes (Who stays, who’s out)
Department negotiators and secondary coverage describe a narrow list of programs that would retain “professional” status — medicine, law, dentistry and pharmacy are listed repeatedly as examples that would remain in the professional bucket — while a broad swath of graduate health and service professions would be reclassified as generic graduate degrees, explicitly including graduate nursing programs (MSN, DNP, CRNA, CNM, APRN, etc.), physician assistant, occupational therapy, physical therapy, audiology, speech‑language pathology, social work (MSW/DSW), public health (MPH/DrPH), and counseling/therapy degrees [1] [2] [3] [5]. advocacy groups and trade press echo similar program lists as excluded [6] [7].
2. Why this matters: loan caps and access to financing
The policy change is not just semantic: under OBBBA implementation, students in programs designated as “professional” would keep higher aggregate borrowing caps (reported as $200,000 lifetime for professional programs vs. $100,000 for graduate students, and different annual caps), so removing these programs can sharply lower the federal loan access available to students in the affected fields [4] [8]. Multiple sources link the proposed redefinition directly to the elimination of Grad PLUS loans and establishment of new annual and lifetime borrowing caps [3] [4].
3. What sources and organizations are saying — competing perspectives
Education Department materials and some reporting frame the revision as aligning with a long‑standing 1965 regulatory definition and a negotiated consensus during rulemaking (citing historic regulatory language), suggesting the move is a technical clarification rather than a novel assault on professions [4] [2]. By contrast, professional associations — nursing groups, ASPPH (public health), ASHA (audiology and speech‑language pathology), NASFAA and university groups — warn the exclusion of their fields will reduce access to graduate education, worsen workforce shortages, and send a symbolic message that those fields are less “professional” [6] [3] [5] [7]. News outlets and advocacy posts emphasize the scale of students affected and frame the change as part of the broader One Big Beautiful Bill Act implementation [9] [8].
4. Status of the change: proposed rule vs. final action
Multiple fact‑checking and reporting outlets note that parts of this narrative remain in flux: the Department has proposed regulatory language and convened negotiated rulemaking (the RISE committee) but some reporting stresses the proposal had not yet been finalized at the time of coverage and remains subject to public comment, negotiation, and possible legal challenge [2] [4] [10]. Snopes and others explicitly caution that “reclassified” language was describing a proposed rule rather than a final, irreversible redefinition in some accounts [2].
5. What’s missing from these sources / limitations
Available sources do not mention a single, exhaustive government-published list in this package that enumerates every CIP code or program stripped of “professional” status; reporting instead cites representative program areas and organizational reactions [4] [1]. Likewise, precise implementation dates, transitional rules for current students, and the Department’s final legal rationale beyond referencing the 1965 regulation are covered unevenly across the documents reviewed [2] [4].
6. Practical next steps and likely outcomes to watch
Expect continued advocacy and negotiation: professional societies have publicly lobbied the Department and members of the RISE committee to restore specific programs (physician assistant, advanced nursing, public health, audiology and speech‑language pathology among them), and higher‑ed groups warn of litigation or further rulemaking challenges; those are the immediate levers that could change the final list before implementation [11] [5] [3]. Monitor final regulatory text from the Department, formal guidance on legacy borrower rules, and any court filings for definitive resolution [4] [5].