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Are programs like PsyD, DNP, and MPT listed as professional degrees by the DOE?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows the U.S. Department of Education under the Trump administration moved in late 2025 to no longer classify many graduate health- and practice-oriented credentials — including nursing degrees such as the MSN and DNP — as “professional degrees,” a shift tied to regulatory changes that also cap federal graduate borrowing [1]. Major outlets report that nursing degrees were explicitly affected; the sources provided do not list a comprehensive official DOE checklist naming PsyD or MPT specifically (p1_s1; available sources do not mention whether PsyD or MPT are individually listed) [1].
1. What the Department of Education announced — and what reporting emphasizes
News reporting and fact-checking coverage describe a late-2025 Department of Education policy change in which a range of practice-oriented graduate credentials — education, nursing (MSN, DNP), social work, public health, physician assistant, occupational therapy, physical therapy, audiology, speech-language pathology, counseling and therapy degrees — were no longer treated as “professional degrees” for certain federal student-aid categories [1]. Snopes frames this as part of broader RISE rulemaking and rule drafts connected to the administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act that also limited graduate borrowing [1].
2. Nursing (DNP) is explicitly named in reporting; PsyD and MPT are not clearly listed in these sources
Both Snopes and Newsweek cite nursing credentials — explicitly mentioning the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) — as removed from the DOE’s “professional degree” classification in the reported late‑2025 action [1] [2]. The search results and excerpts do not show an explicit listing of PsyD (Doctor of Psychology) or MPT/DPT (physical therapy) in the same authoritative list in the provided documents; therefore, available sources do not mention whether PsyD or MPT are individually named by the DOE in that specific reclassification [1].
3. Context: why this classification matters for students and loans
The professional-degree label has practical consequences because the RISE regulatory changes and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated or altered programs that previously allowed graduate students to borrow larger amounts — so removing a degree from the “professional” category can limit how much federal loan support students in those programs can access [1] [2]. Newsweek and Snopes connect the reclassification to concerns that capped federal loans will make certain graduate programs — nursing included — harder to afford [2] [1].
4. Competing perspectives and implied agendas in coverage
Snopes presents the reclassification as a factual outcome of DOE rulemaking and ties it to legislative changes reducing graduate borrowing [1]. Newsweek emphasizes the downstream effect — that caps on federal student loans may deter graduate study in fields like nursing [2]. The implicit agendas differ: fact-checking sources focus on accuracy and causation (Snopes) while mainstream outlets highlight policy impact and advocacy concerns (Newsweek) [1] [2].
5. What the professional degree term generally covers — and limits of the current reporting
Outside the DOE items, educational and professional sites describe degrees like PsyD, DNP, and DPT/MPT as terminal or professional doctorates in their fields and explain their role in licensure and practice preparation; for example, PsyD programs train for clinical practice and are regarded as terminal professional doctorates [3] [4] [5]. However, these program-descriptive sources do not document DOE classifications or the specific regulatory list at issue here; therefore they do not resolve whether DOE’s reclassification explicitly included or excluded PsyD or MPT [3] [4] [5].
6. Practical takeaways for students and institutions
Based on current reporting, students in nursing programs (including DNP) should treat the reclassification and loan caps as clearly reported and potentially consequential for financing graduate study [1] [2]. For PsyD, MPT/DPT, and similar professional doctorates, the available sources provided here do not show explicit DOE language listing those degrees one way or the other; prospective students and institutions should consult the DOE’s rulemaking documents and institutional financial-aid offices for the definitive list and concrete borrowing limits (p1_s1; available sources do not mention a DOE list naming PsyD or MPT).
7. Where to look next for confirmation
Snopes cites DOE negotiated-rulemaking materials and draft RISE regulations; those DOE documents (for example the RISE session materials and proposed draft regulations) are the primary records to consult for the authoritative list and the rationale behind reclassification [1]. News reporting provides impact-oriented context but the DOE’s official rule documents will be needed to confirm whether PsyD or MPT were specifically named [2] [1].
Limitations: this analysis relies solely on the provided search results; the sources explicitly name nursing (MSN, DNP) as affected but do not provide a complete DOE checklist in these excerpts, so definitive statements about PsyD or MPT being listed by the Department of Education are not supported by the available reporting (p1_s1; available sources do not mention whether PsyD or MPT are individually listed).