US Education Department states that accounting is not a professional degree

File: Times Higher Education (THE)

In order to assess federal student loan amounts based on the type of program a student is participating in, the U.S. Department of Education published a final rule under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act student loan classification system on April 30. This rule defines the words "professional student" and "graduate student."

According to the regulation, "professional students" are those who are enrolled in one of 11 approved professional degree programs. Accounting is not included in that list, CPA Practice Advisor website reports.

The degree programs that are considered as professional are the following: 

• Pharmacy
• Dentistry
• Veterinary medicine
• Chiropractic
• Law
• Medicine
• Optometry
• Osteopathic Medicine
• Podiatry
• Theology
• Clinical psychology 

While graduate students in "non-professional" tracks would be eligible for up to $20,500 in federal student loans annually, with a $100,000 aggregate maximum, professional students in those programs would be eligible for up to $50,000 in federal loans annually, with a $200,000 aggregate limit. The modifications are scheduled to go into effect on July 1.

In November of last year, the Education Department removed a number of long-standing professions from its list of educational programs that are considered professional degrees for specific loan programs under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act student loan classification system. Accounting was one that was removed from the list.

Several organizations like The American Institute of CPAs and the American Accounting Association advocated for the official recognition of accounting as a professional degree program by the Education Department. According to the accounting organizations, loan eligibility is determined by these definitions of professional degree programs. This might be an important factor for a student aiming to finish an accounting degree program and become an accountant.