Is a Health Information Management (HIM) degree classified as a professional degree in 2026?
Executive summary
Health Information Management (HIM) programs in 2026 are structured, accredited, and marketed as career-focused qualifications that prepare graduates for national professional certifications and supervised practice experiences—features commonly associated with "professional degrees" [1] [2] [3]. However, no provided source explicitly states that HIM degrees are formally classified in 2026 under the narrow legal/academic category that includes MD, JD, or DDS; available reporting shows they are accredited applied-health programs with Department of Education instructional classifications at the associate level [1] [4].
1. What institutions and accreditors say: HIM as an applied-professional curriculum
Program descriptions from universities and colleges emphasize hands-on competencies, experiential placements, and explicit preparation for credentialing exams—core hallmarks of profession-oriented degrees; CAHIIM’s 2026 accreditation standards foreground competency-based education and professional practice experiences across associate, baccalaureate, and master’s HIM programs [1], while Temple University and several online providers state that graduates are eligible to sit for the RHIA or prepare for RHIA/RHIT certification examinations [2] [5] [3].
2. How the field functions in practice: certification and workplace readiness
HIM curricula routinely teach clinical classification, coding systems (ICD-10, CPT), privacy/compliance, electronic health record management, and revenue-cycle concepts—technical competencies tied directly to employability—and many programs explicitly include supervised internships or capstones as a requirement before graduation, reinforcing an occupational, practice-ready orientation [5] [6] [7].
3. Terminology and formal classification: a gap in the public record
The sources supplied document accreditation, course content, and Department of Education instructional codes—Klamath Community College cites the U.S. Department of Education program classification 51.0707 for Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician at the associate level [4]—but none of the provided materials use the phrase "professional degree" as a formal statutory classification in the manner of MD/JD; therefore, an explicit, sourced declaration that HIM degrees are formally classified as "professional degrees" in 2026 cannot be made from these documents [1] [4].
4. Two practical readings: vocational-professional vs. formal professional degree
Functionally and in the labor market, HIM degrees operate like professional qualifications: accredited pathways, competency assessments, clinical/professional practice experiences, and linkage to recognized credentials (RHIT/RHIA) make them professional-entry programs for a regulated-ish occupational niche [8] [2] [3]. In contrast, strictly formal academic taxonomy—where a "professional degree" is a distinct legal category—appears unsupported in the sampled materials; many institutions instead label HIM as applied baccalaureate, technical, or health-professions degrees [9] [10].
5. Stakes and incentives: why language matters
Universities, accreditors, and program guides emphasize employability and certification to attract students and meet workforce demand, while CAHIIM’s 2026 standards promote competency-based measures that make HIM programs resemble other regulated professions in structure and oversight [1] [11]. That marketing and accreditation incentive can create the impression of a "professional degree" even where formal nomenclature is absent; readers should note the implicit agendas of institutions seeking enrollment and accreditors seeking professionalization.
6. Bottom line — the careful answer for 2026
As of 2026, evidence shows HIM degrees are professionally oriented, accredited programs that prepare graduates for recognized professional certification and supervised practice—functionally professional in purpose and design [1] [2] [3]—but the supplied sources do not establish that HIM degrees are formally labeled by an authoritative body as a "professional degree" in the same legal/academic category as MD or JD [4]. The characterization therefore depends on context: in workforce and accreditation terms, yes; in narrow statutory/academic taxonomy, the available reporting does not provide a definitive affirmative.