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Professional Student Degree Act
To amend the definition of professional degree in the Higher Education Act of 1965.
Summary
The bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide a statutory definition of "professional degree" for federal student loan purposes. It defines a professional degree as one that signifies completion of academic requirements for professional practice (where licensure is commonly required) and a level of skill beyond a bachelor's degree, as determined by the Secretary. The bill lists 24 specific degree types that qualify, including medicine, law, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, business administration, and education degrees, among others, with provision for the Secretary to recognize additional qualifying degrees.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
25 cosponsors
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4] (R-MO)
- Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] (R-NE)
- Rep. Bresnahan, Robert P. [R-PA-8] (R-PA)
- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN)
- Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1] (D-NC)
- Rep. Edwards, Chuck [R-NC-11] (R-NC)
- Rep. Fine, Randy [R-FL-6] (R-FL)
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA)
- Rep. Garbarino, Andrew R. [R-NY-2] (R-NY)
- Rep. Goodlander, Maggie [D-NH-2] (D-NH)
- Rep. Johnson, Dusty [R-SD-At Large] (R-SD)
- Rep. Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2] (R-VA)
- Rep. Kim, Young [R-CA-40] (R-CA)
- Rep. LaHood, Darin [R-IL-16] (R-IL)
- Rep. Mackenzie, Ryan [R-PA-7] (R-PA)
- Rep. Malliotakis, Nicole [R-NY-11] (R-NY)
- Rep. Meuser, Daniel [R-PA-9] (R-PA)
- Rep. Riley, Josh [D-NY-19] (D-NY)
- Rep. Sorensen, Eric [D-IL-17] (D-IL)
- Rep. Van Drew, Jefferson [R-NJ-2] (R-NJ)
- Rep. Van Orden, Derrick [R-WI-3] (R-WI)
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA)
- Rep. Walkinshaw, James R. [D-VA-11] (D-VA)
- Rep. Wilson, Joe [R-SC-2] (R-SC)
Actions (2)
- Dec 15, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · house
- Dec 15, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 15, 2025
Mr. Lawler (for himself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Bresnahan, and Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To amend the definition of professional degree in the Higher Education Act of 1965.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Professional Student Degree Act”.
SEC. 2. PROFESSIONAL DEGREE DEFINED.
Section 455(a)(4)(C) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(a)(4)(C)) is amended—
(1) in clause (ii), by striking “, as defined under section 668.2 of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this paragraph),”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(iii) Professional degree.—In this paragraph, the term ‘professional degree’—
“(I) means a degree that signifies both completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession (for which professional licensure is also commonly required), and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor’s degree, as determined by the Secretary; and
“(II) includes each of the following degrees: “(aa) Pharmacy (Pharm.D.). “(bb) Dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.).
“(cc) Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.).
“(dd) Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.). “(ee) Law (L.L.B. or J.D.). “(ff) Medicine (M.D.). “(gg) Optometry (O.D.). “(hh) Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy (D.O.).
“(ii) Podiatric Medicine/ Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.). “(jj) Theology/Theological Studies (M.Div., or M.H.L.). “(kk) Clinical Psychology (Psy.D. or Ph.D.).
“(ll) Ministry (D.Min.).
“(mm) Social Work (M.S.W. or D.S.W.). “(nn) Audiology (Au.D.). “(oo) Physician Assistant/ Associate (M.P.A.S., M.S.P.A.S., M.M.S., or M.S.). “(pp) Occupational Therapy (M.O.T. of O.T.D.). “(qq) Physical Therapy (D.P.T.). “(rr) Nursing (M.S.N., D.N.P., or Ph.D.). “(ss) Public Health (M.P.H.). “(tt) Business Administration and Management, General (M.B.A. or D.B.A.). “(uu) Accounting (M.Acc. or M.S.A.).
“(vv) Architecture (M.Arch.). “(ww) Education (M.A., M.S., M.A.T., M.Ed.).
“(xx) Special Education (M.Ed. or M.S.Ed.). “(yy) Any other degree that meets the requirements of subclause (I), as determined by the Secretary.”. <all>
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