News
U.S. Department of Education clarifies "professional" degree in proposed rule
Feb 3, 2026 —The U.S. Department of Education issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the cost of higher education and student loan repayment. This clarified the DOE's proposed definition of professional degrees for the purposes of graduate student loan limits.
Accounting is one of a group of degree programs, including nursing and engineering--that is not proposed to be designated by the Department as a professional degree. The NPRM says, "The department notes that the term 'professional student' as used in this [NPRM[ is intended solely to distinguish those programs that we propose would be eligible for higher loan limits...The designation, or lack thereof, of a program as 'professional' does not reflect a value judgment by the department regarding whether a borrower graduating from the program is considered a 'professional.' This NPRM only interprets the phrase 'professional student' as used in the context of the loan limits established by [H.R.1}."
AICPA president and CEO Mark Koziel issued a statement that appreciated the Department of Education's clarification and committed to continue to review the proposal as rulemaking moves forward. You can read this statement here. There is also an article about the clarification in the Journal of Accountancy.
The Department of Education is accepting comments on the notice through March 2 via the website www.regulations.gov. As of the time of this writing, however, that website is not operational due to the partial government shutdown.
