Run Me My Money Back, Sis: When “Professional” Suddenly Doesn’t Include Us
Did you see that list floating around of degrees the U.S. Department of Education wants to stop classifying as “professional”?
Education
Nursing
Social work
Public health
Physician assistant
Occupational & physical therapy
Audiology & speech-language pathology
Business master’s
Engineering master’s
Counseling & therapy
In other words: the people who teach our children, care for our elders, manage our chronic conditions, keep our hospitals running, counsel our kids, and literally keep the public alive.
If my MPH, your MSN, her MSW, and their OT/PT are no longer “professional,” then U.S. Department of Education… run me my money back, sis.
But jokes aside, this isn’t just about titles. It’s about who gets access to education, who carries the heaviest debt, and who gets quietly pushed out of the professions that hold this country together.
What’s actually happening with “professional” degrees?
The Department of Education has proposed a narrower definition of “professional degree” for graduate programs. Under this proposal, only select degrees (medicine, dentistry, law, pharmacy) would remain “professional.”
Everyone else—including nursing, public health, PT/OT, counseling, social work, and education—would be reclassified as standard graduate programs, capped at $20,500/year in federal loans.
If your program costs $50K–$80K/year (very common), your choices become:
High-interest private loans
Working excessive hours
Delayed graduation
Dropping out
Or never enrolling
And who carries the biggest risk?
Black women.
Why Black women are uniquely impacted
The numbers are brutal:
Black women graduate with the highest student debt of any group.
One year after graduation, Black women owe $38,800 in undergrad loans—more than any other race-gender group.
For graduate school, Black women carry 69% more debt than white women.
Over 40% of Black graduates hold graduate school debt—double the rate for white graduates.
Black women are also heavily concentrated in:
Nursing
Education
Counseling
Social work
Public health
Allied health professions
These are exactly the fields targeted for reclassification.
We go into these careers because they are rooted in care, community, culture, and service.
But these rule changes make it harder for us to access the education that trains us to do that work.
This is not “efficiency.”
This is erasure.
What it looks like in real life
This policy would mean:
A Black woman RN who wants to become an NP may not be able to afford it.
A public health student working two jobs still can’t cover tuition.
A counseling student drops out because federal aid is too limited.
First-generation students take on predatory private loans.
This is structural.
This is systemic.
This is avoidable.
This is reversible — but only if we act
The rule is still in the negotiation and comment phase.
This means we can still fight it.
But that requires awareness, pressure, and collective pushback—especially from the communities most impacted.
Calls to Action
1. Participate in the Public Comment Period
Submit your comment when the rule opens. It matters.
2. Pressure your professional organizations
APHA, ANA, NASW, AOTA, ASHA, APTA, AAMC, etc.
3. Share your story
Debt, degree, program cost, lived impact.
These voices shape policy.
4. Demand wider relief and structural reform
Debt cancellation
Tuition reform
Free/low-cost public graduate programs in essential fields
Targeted relief for Black women and other marginalized borrowers
5. Name Black women in every conversation about student debt
Because the data is clear:
We borrow more.
We pay more.
We earn less.
We carry the highest burden.
If the Department of Education wants to redefine “professional” in a way that excludes the very people holding this country together?
Then yes, sis.
Run me my money back.
Sources (Hyperlinked)
ASPPH – Public Health Degree Reclassification Concerns: https://www.aspph.org/news/aspph-urges-caution-regarding-proposed-changes-to-professional-degree-definitions
NASFAA – Negotiated Rulemaking Summary: https://www.nasfaa.org/news-item/34013/Negotiated_Rulemaking_Committee_Considers_Graduate_Professional_Loan_Changes
New America – Graduate & Professional Loan Limit Analysis: https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy
AACN – Graduate Nursing Funding & Policy Updates: https://www.aacnnursing.org/News-Information/Policy
Brookings Institution – “Black Women and the Student Debt Crisis”: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/black-women-and-student-loans
The Education Trust – “Jim Crow Debt: How Black Borrowers Experience Student Loans”: https://edtrust.org/resource/jim-crow-debt
National Women’s Law Center – Student Debt & Women of Color: https://nwlc.org/resource/debt-weight-the-burden-of-student-loans-on-women/
U.S. Department of Education – Negotiated Rulemaking Issue Papers: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2024
AAMC & APTA Workforce Diversity Reports: https://www.aamc.org/data-reports https://www.apta.org/apta-and-you/diversity-equity-and-inclusion