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Which professional degrees were newly added to the DOE 2025–2026 approved list compared to 2024 guidance?
Executive summary
The Department of Education’s 2025–2026 proposed rulemaking would narrow what it calls “professional degrees,” removing many fields that had commonly been treated as professional programs for student-loan limits and other rules; reporting and advocacy groups list nursing, audiology, speech‑language pathology, public health, social work, education (teaching master’s), occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant, counseling/therapy, accounting and architecture among those affected [1] [2] [3]. Coverage is fragmented across news outlets, trade groups and fact‑checks; available sources do not publish a single, authoritative “before and after” list that compares the Department’s 2024 guidance line‑by‑line with the 2025–2026 proposal (not found in current reporting).
1. What the Department is proposing and why it matters
The Department of Education’s proposal refines the definition of “professional degree” in order to implement new loan caps tied to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act; under the bill, students in programs classified as “professional degree” students could borrow up to $50,000 annually (lifetime caps also change) while other graduate students face lower caps — so whether a program is on the professional list has direct effects on student borrowing power [1] [4]. NASFAA and professional associations note ED is racing to finalize language because the new loan limits take effect July 1, 2026, and institutions need clarity well before enrolling students for 2026–27 [5] [2].
2. Which programs reporting says are newly excluded
Multiple outlets and professional groups identify a set of programs the proposed definition would exclude from the professional category: nursing (MSN, DNP), audiology, speech‑language pathology, public health (MPH, DrPH), social work (MSW, DSW), education master’s (teaching), physician assistant, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and some counseling and therapy degrees — with additional mentions of accounting and architecture in some reports [1] [2] [3] [6]. Newsweek and Times Now compile lists reflecting these exclusions and public‑health and audiology associations explicitly reported their fields would be left out under ED’s proposed language [3] [2] [7].
3. Where the coverage disagrees or is unclear
There is disagreement or at least uncertainty in the reporting about permanence and Department intent: the Department told Snopes it is “using the same definition…that it has used for decades” and that the proposed regulatory language “aligns with this historical precedent,” framing industry outcry as premature; simultaneously, news outlets and associations interpret the proposed language as effectively removing long‑included fields like nursing from the professional‑degree category for loan cap purposes [1]. Sources do not present a single official 2024 “approved list” side‑by‑side with the 2025 proposal, so hard comparisons rely on how institutions and sectors historically treated specific credentials rather than a cited federal checklist (not found in current reporting).
4. Who is sounding the alarm and why
Professional associations for nursing, public health, audiology and speech‑language pathology, plus higher‑education advocates, warn the change will reduce borrowing capacity for students in those fields and could worsen workforce shortages, particularly in health care and education; commentators and employers also point to higher average costs for medical and law school to argue the caps matter for recruitment and equity [2] [4] [8]. Conversely, the Department’s quoted spokesperson and some federal advisers frame the move as restoring historical norms and reining in what they portray as expanded borrowing that previously benefited some graduate programs [1].
5. Limitations in the record and what’s missing
Available reporting lists many programs that would be excluded under the proposed definition, but sources do not provide a formal 2024 DOE “approved list” published by the Department and then show an official 2025–26 replacement list in one document; therefore a definitive “newly added” versus “removed” comparison cannot be compiled from the supplied sources alone (not found in current reporting). Stakeholders’ lists appear in news stories, association statements and fact‑checks rather than a single ED table [1] [3] [2].
6. What to watch next
The Department expects to release final rules by spring 2026 at the latest, and the loan‑limit changes take effect July 1, 2026 — so final regulatory text and any DOE Q&As will be the authoritative source for which exact credentials are classified as “professional degrees” [1] [2]. Until the final rule appears, professional groups and NASFAA are seeking clarifications and urging earlier guidance because institutions are enrolling students now for 2026‑27 [5] [2].
If you want, I can assemble the program names reported as “excluded” into a concise checklist (with source tags for each entry) or track new DOE releases and stakeholder responses as they appear.