Have the Department of Education's 11 professional categories changed in recent years or under recent administrations (as of 2025)?

1. What reporters are covering: reassignments and organizational change, not a simple recategorization

Multiple news outlets report that the 2025 Trump administration has announced significant reorganizations — transferring responsibility for K‑12 and higher education programs to other departments like Labor, and moving other programs to HHS and State — and characterizes these moves as the most sweeping structural change to ED since its creation ^{[1] [2] [3] [7]}. Those stories treat the action as a redistribution of offices and program functions rather than as a mere relabeling of internal professional categories ^{[2] [3]}.

2. Sources we have that would mention a change to ED personnel categories do not

The ED homepage and 2025 federal materials focus on grants, priorities, and negotiated rulemaking activities (including Title IV rulemaking) but do not present or reference an "11 professional categories" list or a change to such categories in the documents excerpted here ^{[4] [6] [8]}. The 2025 budget summary likewise outlines program and funding priorities without presenting a reclassification of professional categories inside ED ^[5].

3. Stakeholders’ concerns center on program transfer and workforce impacts, not a simple renaming

Advocates, professional associations, and outlets highlight practical downstream effects: shifting IDEA or other programs to HHS could change professional practice norms (for example, educational service providers adopting medical models), and the administration’s personnel moves (including a large reduction in workforce) are viewed as part of a broader plan to shrink or disperse ED’s functions ^[9]. Those concerns imply substantive functional change for staff and contractors more than a narrow recategorization ^[9].

4. Project 2025 and the policy blueprint inform the administration’s aims

Reporting and policy documents note that Project 2025 — a conservative blueprint assembled before the administration — advocated dispersing federal education functions and reshaping ED’s role; news reports link the current reassignments to that playbook ^{[10] [2]}. That suggests a deliberate strategic agenda to redistribute responsibilities across agencies, which could affect job roles and organizational charts, but the provided reporting stops short of enumerating a revised set of internal professional categories at ED ^{[2] [10]}.

5. What the available sources explicitly do not say

Available sources do not mention an explicit list titled "Department of Education's 11 professional categories" nor document a change to such a list in recent years or under the 2025 administration; there is no citation in the provided reporting or federal pages that affirms or enumerates 11 ED professional categories or their alteration ^{[4] [8] [6] [5]}. If you are referring to a specific internal HR taxonomy, that item is not present in the materials supplied here.

6. Two plausible interpretations and how to verify them

Interpretation A: You mean a formal HR classification (e.g., occupational series or pay bands) inside ED — not found in these sources; to confirm, check ED human resources or OPM documentation, which are not in the current search set (not found in current reporting). Interpretation B: You mean programmatic or professional groupings (special education, higher ed, K‑12, civil rights, etc.) — the 2025 coverage documents major transfers of program responsibilities away from ED, which functionally alters where those professional roles live, even if a neat "11‑category" list is not published here ^{[2] [7]}.

7. Bottom line and recommended next steps

Bottom line: reporting shows major structural reassignments of ED programs in 2025 but does not document a change to an explicit "11 professional categories" list within the Department ^{[2] [1]}. To get a definitive answer about an internal ED taxonomy, request ED’s human resources or organizational chart documents, or the Office of Personnel Management classifications — those specific documents are not included in the sources provided here (not found in current reporting).