Who Gets to Be a “Professional”?
- Shaya Eidson
- Nov 30, 2025
- 2 min read
By Shaya Eidson
11/30/25
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans showed great appreciation for nurses, public‑health staff, and other essential workers. However, five years later, those same workers are facing a federal move that strips their degrees of “professional” status. This will reduce the financial support for these degrees and reduce the legitimacy of these professions.
Student loan changes under the “Big Beautiful Bill” will cause many students who are not listed a pursuing a “professional degree” to face lower loan caps. The US Department of Education has redefined what degrees are considered “professional.” These professional programs include Pharmacy, Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine, Chiropractic, Law, Medicine, Optometry, Osteopathic Medicine, Podiatry, and Theology. However, multiple programs have been left off of the professional degree list, including Nursing, Physician Assistants, Physical Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists, and many more. The basis of this classification stems from a 1965 federal law that defines a professional degree as something that "signifies both completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor's degree.” Many of the programs not listed require education and training beyond a bachelor’s degree. As a result, those who want to seek a higher education will be deterred by lower loan caps.
Many graduate students rely on Grad PLUS, which is a federal loan lifeline, to enter fields like nursing and public health. This reclassification will create major financial barriers for students wishing to pursue careers in these fields, resulting in workforce shortages. This will further devalue professions already facing burnout, shortages, and recruitment challenges. Additionally, these fields disproportionately attract women and people of color. More than 80 percent of public‑health majors are women, and 55 percent are individuals of color.
Reducing access to federal loans to cover the costs of these careers will shut out rural towns, low‑income neighborhoods, tribal nations, and immigrant communities, whose members most often return home to serve them. It is important that all health professionals can be fully supported financially because our nation's health depends on it.
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