Which professional degrees were added to the 2025–2026 accredited programs list and what prompted their inclusion?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
The available reporting does not identify any newly “added” professional degrees on a 2025–2026 accredited programs list; instead, multiple outlets describe a Department of Education proposal that would sharply narrow which graduate programs qualify as federal “professional degree” programs, removing many healthcare and education credentials from that designation and shrinking the list from roughly 2,000 to fewer than 600 [1] [2]. That reclassification is driven by Congress’s 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill changes to graduate loan law and the Education Department’s effort to implement new borrowing caps that take effect July 1, 2026 [2] [3].
1. What the reporting actually documents: contraction, not additions
Coverage from fact-checking and professional associations consistently shows the story is about exclusion and redefinition rather than additions: Snopes summarizes that the Department of Education said it would no longer classify a long list of credentials — including advanced nursing (MSN, DNP), education master’s degrees, social work (MSW, DSW), public health (MPH, DrPH), physician assistant programs, occupational therapy, physical therapy, audiology, speech‑language pathology and counseling and therapy degrees — as “professional degrees” under the proposed rules [2]. Multiple advocacy groups and outlets likewise report the Department’s proposal would reduce the number of programs that qualify for the higher loan caps, not expand them [1] [4].
2. The proximate cause: Congress rewrote graduate loan rules, forcing ED to redefine “professional”
The immediate prompt for the Education Department’s rulemaking is the new federal law enacted in 2025 that eliminated the Grad PLUS program and replaced it with hard borrowing caps for graduate students, creating distinct loan ceilings for students in programs the Department designates “professional” versus other graduate programs; those caps go into effect July 1, 2026 [2] [3]. Because the higher “professional program” borrowing limits confer substantial financial advantage — including a higher annual and lifetime cap — the Department must produce a precise regulatory definition and a program list to determine which students can access those larger loans [3] [2].
3. Which programs are reported as losing or keeping status — and the ambiguity that remains
Reporting names many high‑profile health and human‑service programs as targeted for removal from the professional list (nursing, PAs, OT/PT, audiology, speech‑language pathology, counseling/therapy, public health, social work, education) while industry groups note that some traditionally professional credentials remain tied to state licensure or accrediting boards — for example, architecture degrees accredited by the NAAB would still be professional for state licensing purposes even if the federal list changes [2] [3] [4]. NASFAA coverage highlights specific program pathways and licensing realities for physician assistants to illustrate the practical implications for training timelines and licensure [5]. Even so, the Department’s final regulatory language and official program list were not released in the available reporting, and several outlets explicitly underline that the proposal is not final and remains subject to negotiated rulemaking and public comment [3] [6].
4. Competing narratives and institutional agendas shaping the debate
Stakeholders frame the changes through different lenses: higher‑education and student‑aid observers warn the narrowing will undermine access to critical healthcare professions by shrinking loan eligibility [1] [6], nursing organizations and bipartisan lawmakers have pushed the Education Department to add nursing back onto the list or clarify its treatment [7], while the Department’s move is presented as a technical implementation of statutory loan caps passed by Congress [2]. Advocacy groups such as ASHA flagged the immediate risk to audiology and speech‑language programs to rally members and mobilize comment during rulemaking [4]. Media summaries that headline lists of “degrees not classed as professional” reflect advocacy and public concern but should not be read as the final regulatory outcome, which the Department expected to finalize in 2026 [3] [2].
5. Bottom line and limits of reporting
Based on the provided reporting, there is no documented list of professional degrees that were newly added for 2025–2026; instead, the documented action is a Department of Education proposal to significantly narrow the federal “professional degree” designation in response to the 2025 statutory overhaul of graduate borrowing, with many healthcare and service‑profession programs reported as excluded and some traditional professional degrees (e.g., NAAB‑accredited architecture degrees) noted as retaining licensure relevance despite federal definitional changes [2] [3] [4]. The final rules and program list — which would definitively state any additions or removals — were not published in the reporting reviewed and remain subject to negotiated rulemaking and public comment [3] [6].