A Rose, By Any Other Name: How the Department of Education’s Proposed Re-Definition of “Professional Degrees” May Disproportionately Impact Women

03.18.2026

Despite the progress that has been made for women in regard to equity over the last century^[1], women still face an uphill battle. In 2025, the Department of Education notified a proposed Rule change which would re-define the term “professional student.” By doing so, several different professional degrees and courses of study which were previously included in the definition would now be excluded and thus ineligible for higher Federal student loan limits under the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB).^[2]

Does this create an uphill battle for women? The overarching concern by many professions is that this new definition removes many careers that have historically been considered “professional” and require higher education above and beyond a bachelor’s degree. This blog examines this new proposed definition, the degrees/careers that are impacted, and how women may be statistically and disproportionately impacted as a result.

This new distinction now limits what is known as a “professional degree” to be defined as:

A degree 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. Professional licensure is also generally required. Examples of a professional degree include but are not limited to Pharmacy (Pharm.D.), Dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.), Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.), Law (L.L.B. or J.D.), Medicine (M.D.), Optometry (O.D.), Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.), Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.), and Theology (M.Div., or M.H.L.).

(Title 34 Subtitle B Chapter VI Part 668 Subpart A Section 668.2)

Prior to this, the definition of “professional degree” included Nursing (MSN and DNP); architecture degrees; accounting degrees; education degrees; and social work degrees.^[3]This also includes careers such as multiple higher education and professional groups, public health (i.e. Master’s in Public Health and Doctorate of Public Health), physicians assistants, and other healthcare and service professions, resulting in reductions to students’ access to higher federal loan limits.^[4]

This new classification could severely impact careers that have statistically been held mainly by women and are currently facing nationwide shortages, prior to this proposed change in definition.

As per the National Center of Labor Statistics, for the 2020-2021 school year, 89% of teachers at the elementary level in public schools were women^[5] as well as 64% of teachers at the secondary level.^[6] For this same period, 51% of public-school elementary teachers held a master’s degree and 1.4% held a doctorate degree, whilst 53% of public school secondary teachers held a master’s degree and 2% held a doctorate degree.^[7]

Similar to education professions, the field of social work is even more predominately female and requires a degree higher than a bachelor’s degree. According to the Association of Social Workers, 94% of social workers have obtained a Master’s in Social Work (MSW) and are working in positions that require or prefer social work degrees and licensure. Significantly, 89.56% of those MSW holders are women, resulting in the need for higher education outside a bachelor’s degree, along with the need for additional loans outside those solely needed for an undergraduate degree.^[8]

Analogous numbers are found in the field of nursing, wherein women account for 89% of that field as of 2022.^[9] Additionally, more than 70% of registered nurses held a bachelor’s degree or higher, resulting in the need for higher education and additional loans outside of those solely needed for an undergraduate degree.

Physician assistants may also be impacted by the definition change. A physician assistant is a licensed medical professional who is able to diagnose, treat, and manage patient care under the supervision of a medical doctor.^[10] Pursuant to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, a physician assistant typically requires a master’s degree from an accredited program and all states require these individuals to be licensed.^[11]

Significantly, pursuant to the Bureau of Health Workforce as of December 2025, careers such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants are important in providing primary care in rural areas.^[12] This is significant due to the fact that as of December 2025, the National Center for Health Workforce projected a shortage of Full Time primary care physicians in the sum of 340,319 as of 2038, which will be particularly acute in rural areas.^[13] However, this shortage is somewhat alleviated by a projected surplus of nurse practitioners and a small projected surplus of physician assistants in 2038.^[14]

This is significant as 71.6% of physician assistants are women with 83.5% of all physician assistants holding a master’s degree and 2.7% hold a doctorate degree.^[15]A shortage in the field of physician assistant will further exacerbate the shortage of primary healthcare providers and continue to significantly impact those who live in rural areas and their ability to obtain primary healthcare.

A review of the statistics for the programs no longer listed under the proposed new definition of professional degree, demonstrates that the majority of these careers require higher education of a master’s or greater and are mainly held by women. By limiting the loan amount for those higher education degrees, it is arguable that this will limit the individuals who can pursue those degrees due to financial difficulties and the inability to pay for the same in full or upfront.

This proposed removal from the Department of Education’s definition of “professional degree” will potentially negatively impact the current shortage of teachers and nurses that this nation faces. As of 2025, over 410,000 K-12 teaching positions remained vacant or were filled by educators lacking full certification.^[16] This impact will also be similar for the current nursing shortage. Per the Health Workforce Analysis, which was published by the Health Resources and Services Administration in November of 2022, federal authorities projected a shortage of 78,610 full time Registered Nurses in 2025 and 63,720 in 2030.^[17]

Additionally, the Institute of Medicine, in its landmark report on The Future of Nursing, called for increasing the number of baccalaureate-prepared nurses in the workforce to at least 80% to enhance patient safety. However, the current nursing workforce falls short of that recommendation, at only 2/3 or 66.667% of registered nurses being educated at the baccalaureate or graduate level.^[18]

Moreover, the statistics and studies have demonstrated that this country is facing a teacher and nursing shortage as well as a primary care physician shortage. Therefore, it is also plausible that this new proposed definition, removing careers such as teaching, nursing, social work, and physician assistants will result in a greater shortage than what is already projected and exacerbate corresponding issues. The exact percentage has been reported as 69% by the HRSA and 71.7% by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.^[19]

While the last one-hundred years have seen growth in women’s rights, the last decade has seen that growth slowly being attacked. The journey toward full equality is continually ongoing to ensure equal opportunity, representation, and respect in every field.

Kristin M. Gummoe is a senior associate at Hoagland Longo. As a first-generation attorney, she was named the first Planning Board Chairwoman in her town’s 108-year history in 2024. She focuses her practice on litigation of general and automobile liability cases and has experience in the litigation of environmental and toxic tort matters. She is also a member of the firm’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee.

[1] Her-Story Part 1: When Did Women First Gain Constitutional Rights? | Hoagland, Longo, Moran, Dunst & Doukas

[2] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/30/2026-01912/reimagining-and-improving-student-education

[3] Full List Of Degrees No Longer Considered ‘Professional’ By Trump’s Education Department | US News - Times Now; see also A list of the degrees the Department of Education will...

[4] Nursing leaders voice concern over proposed changes to student federal student loan provisions | newscentermaine.com; see also News | CSWE; and see also Professional Degree Definition Consensus - Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH)

[5] COE - Characteristics of Public School Teachers

[6] Id.

[7] Id.

[8] THE LICENSED SOCIAL WORK WORKFORCE

[9] The 2022 National Nursing Workforce Survey - Journal of Nursing Regulation

[10] Physician Assistants : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

[11] Id.

[12] State of the Primary Care Workforce, 2025