The U.S. Department of Education is facing mounting criticism after financial educator Clarissa Moore — known online as Clarissa Explains Money — warned that several widely recognized professional degrees will soon be stripped of their “professional” designation under new federal rules.
The change, tied to measures being implemented under President Donald Trump’s sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill, could sharply reduce how much graduate students in critical fields are allowed to borrow for school.
Moore’s post, which quickly spread across Instagram, outlined a list of degrees that will reportedly lose access to the higher federal loan caps reserved for professional programs.
Among them:
- Nursing (including MSN and DNP programs),
- Social work,
- Public health,
- Physician assistant studies,
- Occupational and physical therapy,
- Audiology,
- Speech-language pathology,
- Business master’s degrees,
- Engineering master’s degrees, and
- Counseling programs.
For students preparing to enter fields already experiencing nationwide shortages, the implications are immediate and alarming.
Funding Limits Could Hit Essential Fields Hard
Under the new framework, only degrees formally labeled “professional” will qualify for the highest federal loan caps and access to Grad PLUS loans — resources many graduate students rely on to cover tuition, clinical requirements, unpaid fieldwork, and living costs.
Reclassifying these programs, critics say, creates a loan-cap gap that will push students toward private loans, force them to delay or abandon their studies, or deter them from entering vital professions altogether.
Moore warned that such limits “devalue critical professions,” particularly those requiring advanced training, licensing, and years of clinical preparation. In fields like nursing, public health, counseling, and social work — sectors that form the backbone of underserved and rural communities — any reduction in incoming professionals would have measurable consequences for patients and families.
A Policy Change That Deepens Inequity?
The potential impact is not evenly distributed. Students most affected include:
- Women
- First-generation college students
- Black, Latino, and other underrepresented students
- Lower-income students
- Students entering essential but lower-paying careers
- Students training to serve rural or marginalized communities
These groups rely heavily on federal graduate lending programs that offer predictable terms and consumer protections not guaranteed in the private lending market.
Moore cautioned that narrowing access to federal loans further “widens existing disparities” at a time when shortages in healthcare, mental health services, and public health infrastructure are already creating national strain.
Nursing Community Sounds the Alarm
The exclusion of advanced nursing degrees has sparked a particularly sharp backlash. Nursing organizations and individual practitioners argue that removing MSN and DNP programs from the “professional” designation contradicts the essential nature of the workforce — especially in a nation still grappling with post-pandemic staffing shortages.
Many nurses expressed disbelief that their rigorous training, which includes clinical rotations, advanced diagnostics, research experience, and licensure requirements, could be deemed anything other than “professional.”
What Comes Next?
The Department of Education has not yet commented publicly on the concerns. Newsweek reported that it reached out to the agency for clarification but did not receive a response outside regular hours.
While the policy details are still unfolding, the reaction has been swift: students, educators, and professional groups across the country are calling for transparency and urging the Department to reconsider a classification system they believe will discourage people from entering careers the country cannot afford to lose.
For now, uncertainty remains — and so does the potential for far-reaching consequences in classrooms, clinics, and community services nationwide.
