When a professional degree suddenly... isn’t?

Author

Lauren Curtis
November 26, 2025

Hey Health Techies!

Let’s talk about that update.

The one that no-so-quietly reclassified several degrees including nursing, physical therapy, social work, and others out of the “professional degree” category.

From posts about how this impacts the healthcare system at large…

  • Example here from Dr. Owais Durrani

To trying to find the humor in it…

  • Example here from the hilarious Nurse John

You couldn’t escape the news on social media this week.

ℹ️ Here’s what happened

Effective July 1, 2026, students in programs that are no longer considered professional by the Department of Education will be subject to the student loan caps associated with “graduate” programs. This cap is $20,500 per year, and potentially puts many prospective students in a situation where they cannot afford to obtain these degrees.

And though policymakers say that this was an unintentional consequence, stating that they were simply to trying to add clarity to Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes that were already in place and were perhaps being misinterpreted, one would hope that when this much backlash is created, it would encourage a second look at the impact that it is causing, intentional or not.

❓ Why it matters

This isn’t just semantics. It has ripple effects:

  • Perception: Titles and designations shape how industries and policymakers value a profession.

  • Pipeline: Nursing and other programs already face declining enrollment and concerning shortages. Removing “professional degree” status makes all of that worse. It makes these programs even less attractive because in some cases they will become unaffordable due to loan caps.

  • Policy: Classification could trickle into funding, research, and future education requirements.

Healthcare is already in a workforce crisis. This update feels like a step in the wrong direction.

An Inc.com article seemed to try to minimize the change by saying “it’s all about the student loans, and not about the prestige or pay for a degree.” And sure, we could say that it’s all about the student loans, but absolutely nothing in healthcare happens in a silo. I’ve worked in this industry long enough to know that you can’t make one change or decision without it having a massive ripple effect.

Unfortunately the reality is that this is one of those changes that may look small to some on paper, but the downstream impact is exactly what we’ll all be bracing for.

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Until next time,

Lauren

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