Students doing certain degrees may no longer receive the same amount of reimbursement for their studies now that the Department of Education is implementing various measures from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
One measure coming into action is that whether a degree is considered “professional” will influence how much reimbursement a student receives for their higher education.
However, there are a number of what many see as “professional” degrees missing from the new list, such a nursing, which sparked significant concern among nurses and nursing organizations.
Newsweek has contacted the Department of Education via email outside of regular hours for comment.
Why It Matters
The costs of doing a college degree are getting higher and higher—over the last 30 years the average tuition for both public and private colleges has doubled after adjusting for inflation, according to a report by NPR.
In just the last decade, costs of undergraduate tuition in public universities have also gone up by 30 percent, according to the University Herald, and some colleges were also set to bring in 4 percent cost hikes for this academic year as well.
This means that those doing high-costing degrees, who may longer receive the same amount as their degree may not be deemed “professional,” could financially struggle to cover the costs—which could deter students from choosing to pursue those high-demand careers.
What To Know
Under the terms of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) will be brought in to replace previous programs.
This means that the Grad PLUS program, designed to help graduate and professional students cover educational expenses, will be scrapped while Parent PLUS loans, student loans available for parents of dependent undergraduate students, will be limited.
The “new and simplified” RAP will see annual loans for new borrowers capped at $20,500 for graduate students and $50,000 for professional students.
This means that what degrees count as professional and non-professional is now a determining factor in how much financial support students will receive.
In the regulatory definition of a professional degree (34 CFR 668.2) from 1965, the text lists a number of professions, but says a professional degree is “not limited to” those mentioned, meaning it is unclear how many of the degrees not counted professional now have always been considered non-professional.
That said, the occupations not deemed professional among the health care space include nursing, physician assistants, physical therapists and audiologists, according to the education news outlet Inside Higher Ed.
Per the outlet, other professions not included are architects, accountants, educators, and social workers—which sector representatives pushed to be included in the list, given that they are high-demand occupations.
It has also been reported that engineering, a business master’s, counseling or therapy, and speech pathology will not be considered “professional” either.
Many are now concerned about the impact this will have on students training in these professions, with particular concern raised over how this could reduce the number of nurses across the country if less students decide to enter the profession over financial concerns.
The American Nurses Association has, as a result, started a petition to get the Department of Education to include nursing as a professional degree.
What People Are Saying
Amy McGrath, a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Kentucky, wrote in a post on X: “Can someone explain how a theologian is considered more “professional” than a nurse practitioner? As part of the “Big Beautiful Bill” the Department of Education just proposed a reclassification of a “professional degree,” and it means fewer students will qualify for the higher loan limits they need for grad school. Programs being excluded include many fields dominated by women like health care, counseling, and social work. This isn’t a coincidence. This is a way to quietly push women out of professional careers. Limiting who can pursue advanced degrees in critical professions will only deepen the workforce shortages we’re already facing.”
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) said in a statement: “Excluding nursing from the definition of professional degree programs disregards decades of progress toward parity across the health professions and contradicts the Department’s own acknowledgment that professional programs are those leading to licensure and direct practice. AACN recognizes that explicitly including postbaccalaureate nursing education as professional is essential for strengthening the nation’s health care workforce, supporting the next generation of nurses, and ultimately supporting the health care of patients in communities across the country.”
What Happens Next
The new measures will be implemented from July 2026.
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