The U.S. Department of Education recently narrowed what the federal government defines as professional graduate degrees. The change, outlined in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed July 4, excludes degrees such as nursing, physical therapy, social work, education, accounting, audiology and architecture from the professional distinction.
The term “professional degree” is an internal definition from the ED, which determines what programs qualify for higher loan limits.
“(It’s) not a value judgement about the importance of programs,” an ED fact sheet said.
Students enrolled in professional programs, such as pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, theology and clinical psychology, are able to borrow up to $200,000 in total. Students enrolled in any other graduate programs are limited to borrowing up to $100,000 in total, according to Investopedia.
In previous years, all graduate students had a loan cap of $138,500. The new loan caps go into effect in July 2026.
The decision was made by the Reimagining and Improving Student Education Committee, formed by President Donald Trump, and has stirred controversy with students and educators across the country.
Ohio University offers over 250 graduate programs.
Rachel Bican, assistant professor in the OU Department of Physical Therapy, expressed her disappointment in the decision.
“I think there are a few factors that go into it,” Bican said. “One is the impact of not being recognized for the skills that we have. We're a doctoral-level profession, same with the other ones that also were left off, and so I think it's kind of devaluing what we bring to healthcare and to our patients.”
A coalition of health professions, education programs and professional associations detailed their concerns with the change in a letter sent to ED Federal Negotiator Tamy Abernathy and RISE committee members.
A major concern, the letter states, was the reduction in student loan amounts offered could deter students from pursuing certain graduate programs. They argue this will intensify the health workforce shortage, specifically impacting rural and underserved communities.
The Appalachian region has a long-standing history of healthcare shortages spanning multiple sectors. The number of primary care physicians per 100,000 people in Appalachia is 12 % lower than the national average, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Laney Grubb, a graduate student in the advanced standing master's program for social work at OU, said the social services in Athens and the surrounding area are available primarily due to OU’s presence. She believes the decision could negatively impact the communities.
“If we didn't have people going to school here in Athens, they wouldn't even be able to recognize things like that,” Grubb said. “It's just going to have so much more of rural or Appalachian struggles pushed under the rug, and they're gonna continue to fall into this systematic cycle that they've been in for generations.”
Bican also said the workforce is already too small and cannot keep up with the demand of the aging baby boomer generation. She also said there are not enough people trained in healthcare fields, and commented on how the decision is going to worsen the issue.
“I think it's going to cause an increase in shortages of health care providers across the nation,” Bican said. “Particularly medically underserved regions are probably going to be hit the hardest because they already are lacking healthcare providers.”
Olivia Demaree, a graduate student in the advanced standing master's program for social work at OU, discussed how not classifying social work as professional is going to impact marginalized communities, like the ones she serves in Appalachia.
“There are people that are going to die from this, and that sounds insanely dramatic when you look at it from their high-up perspective, but it's not dramatic,” Demaree said. “You are going to lose social workers; therefore, people who are marginalized are going to lose access to care, food and shelter. Losing social workers, making social work an inaccessible degree to obtain, is going to cost people their lives, and it's not noticed by those who are unaffected by that.”
According to the ED fact sheet, the department also believes by capping loans, graduate programs will be forced to lower the cost of tuition.
“I don't see that as a possible outcome because public universities are operating at the lowest budget that we can be operating at,” Bican said. “... I think all educators in this profession work really hard to advocate for keeping costs the lowest that they can. But at the end of the day, there is an operating budget, so I don't think that this decision is going to influence how much professional programs cost.”
The plan is still being finalized, according to the Associated Press.
