Bill · H.R. 6739· House(119-HR-6739)
Clarity in Professional Degree Act
- Introduced
- 12/16/2025
- Last activity
- 12/16/2025 — Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
- Sponsored by
- Debbie Dingell
- Cosponsors
- - 1 - 0
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
This bill, known as the "Clarity in Professional Degree Act," aims to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965. The primary goal is to expand the definition of what qualifies as a "professional degree." This change addresses a modification by the Department of Education that removed certain health, education, and graduate credentials from the list of eligible degrees for Federal student aid. By expanding this definition, the bill seeks to include specific degrees such as nursing, social work, and architecture.
Yes· 3 of 9
Would students be better off under this?+8
The bill expands the range of degree programs eligible for essential federal student aid.
Does this make college cost less?+8
The bill restores access to federal student aid for many professional degree programs.
Would people with disabilities be better off under this?+7
The bill corrects a Department of Education modification that negatively impacted these students.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
-
Maintaining Access to Federal Student Aid: The bill expands the definition of "professional degree" to include specific credentials like Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Social Work, Accounting, Architecture, Special and Secondary Education, Music Education, World Languages, and Public Health (Section 3). This is intended to prevent students in these programs from losing their qualification for Federal student aid programs.
-
Mitigating Workforce Shortages: By ensuring students can access aid, the bill addresses concerns that the removal of these classifications would exacerbate shortages in fields that are the foundation of the United States economy (Section 2, Clause 1 and 3).
-
Protecting Students with Disabilities: The bill responds to a Department of Education modification that was found to be at the detriment of students with disabilities (Section 2, Clause 1).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- No negative impacts are explicitly stated in the provided text.
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Students+8Good For People With Disabilities+7Good For Young Adults+6Good For Low Income Households+5
- Economy And Finance
- Increases Job Creation+5Improves Economic Growth+3
- Education And Technology
- Improves College Affordability+8
- Social Issues And Justice
- Improves Disability Rights+7
- Healthcare
- Improves Healthcare Access+5
- 9/10/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 12/16/2025
- Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
- Introduced in House
Darren SotoDemocrat · Florida