The Government Just Told Educators They’re Not “Real” Professionals

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I wanted to bring this to your attention because, with everything happening in the world right now, changes like this can easily slip past people. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the Department of Education’s new definition of what counts as a professional degree have not received the attention they deserve. Yet these changes carry serious implications for teachers, school librarians, counselors, reading specialists, and future education leaders. They are not small adjustments. They alter who can afford to enter the profession and who can stay.

Recent reporting from Newsweek confirms that educators are not included in the list of degrees counted as “professional.” The fields that qualify are medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, osteopathic medicine, optometry, chiropractic, podiatry, law, theology, and clinical psychology. Every other field, including education, is placed in the lower “graduate” category for federal student loan purposes.

Let's take a look at what that means and why many educators believe the exclusion is deliberate.

How This Policy Is Structured

The Department of Education anchored its rules to a narrow regulatory definition that originated decades ago. That definition identifies ten fields as professional degrees. Education was never included in that list, and the department chose not to expand it even though educator preparation programs require licensure, advanced coursework, and graduate-level study.

The rulemaking process tied the higher loan limits to specific four-digit CIP codes used by those traditional fields.

None of the education codes qualify. That includes programs for classroom teachers, school librarians, reading specialists, curriculum and instruction, school counseling, educational leadership, and doctoral study in education.

This decision matters because it creates a two-tier federal loan structure.

Tier One
Programs labeled as professional receive $50,000 per year and $200,000 in lifetime borrowing.

Tier Two
Graduate programs are limited to $25,000 per year and a lifetime maximum of $100,000.

Educator preparation stays in Tier Two.

What This Means For Educators

Reduced Access to Graduate Programs

Most teaching certifications require a master’s degree. School librarians, reading specialists, bilingual educators, counselors, and administrators all need graduate-level credentials. Many programs cost more than the yearly federal limit.

The new caps force students to rely on private loans or employer tuition support, or to leave their programs entirely.

A Weaker Pipeline Into Teaching

The teaching profession already struggles to attract new candidates. When a degree becomes more expensive than what federal aid will support, the pipeline narrows further. Students from lower-income backgrounds, first-generation college students, and educators of color are most affected.

Fewer Educators Are Moving Into Advanced Roles

Educational leadership degrees and EdD programs often exceed the yearly federal limit. The lower caps make these pathways less accessible. This directly affects principal pipelines, district leadership development, and specialized instructional roles.

A Direct Hit to the School Library Pipeline

I know from my time as an administrator how hard it is to find certified school librarians. Many districts already struggle to recruit qualified candidates and often rely on uncertified paraprofessionals to run their libraries because they cannot find licensed staff. When the federal loan system limits access to the graduate degrees required for school library certification, it becomes even harder to bring new professionals into the field. This change will make a difficult situation worse and will widen the gap between students who have access to full library programs and those who do not.

Widening Shortages

Shortages are most severe in special education, bilingual education, STEM fields, and school libraries. These roles require more graduate credits and more specialized training. Reduced borrowing capacity makes it even harder to fill these positions, especially in high-need schools.

Increased Reliance On Private Loans

Private lenders have higher interest rates and fewer protections than federal loans. They do not qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Educators who turn to private loans may carry long-term financial burdens for work that historically offers modest salaries and limited financial mobility.

Equity Concerns

Educator diversity is already a national challenge. Graduate-level admissions data show that financial barriers disproportionately affect candidates of color. Keeping educator preparation in the lower loan tier reinforces long-standing inequities.

Why Many Educators Believe the Exclusion Is Intentional

A Consistent Pattern Across Public Service Fields

Educators are not the only group left out. Nursing, social work, public health, counseling, and physician assistant programs are also excluded. Every excluded field is a public service profession that requires advanced training but does not offer high salaries.

The Choice to Rely On An Outdated Definition

The department did not have to use the narrow 1990s definition. It could have updated the framework to reflect modern workforce needs. It did not. The decision preserves a hierarchy that elevates medicine and law while leaving out fields that support schools, communities, and public health.

No Process for Adding New Professional Fields

The rulemaking could have created a mechanism to evaluate additional professions for professional status. That option does not exist. Requests from nursing, public health, and social work were not adopted. Education programs were not considered for inclusion.

A Policy Structure That Reduces Federal Loan Exposure

Higher loan caps were assigned only to fields associated with high income. Lower caps were assigned to lower-income public service fields. Many educators interpret this as a financial choice rather than a neutral classification.

A Long History of Undervaluing Education

This policy continues a pattern educators have experienced for decades. Teacher salaries remain low. School librarian staffing has declined nationwide. Advanced training for educators is treated as optional rather than essential. The new loan structure reinforces the perception that education is viewed as a lower-tier profession.

Why This Matters Now

This issue is not academic. It will shape the next generation of teachers, school librarians, counselors, specialists, and education leaders. Schools cannot function without fully staffed classrooms, libraries, and student support services. The United States already faces chronic shortages. A federal loan structure that restricts access to the necessary graduate preparation will deepen that crisis. Educators deserve clarity. They also deserve to be part of the conversation about how federal policy shapes the profession.

The reclassification of professional degrees under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act changes who can afford to enter and remain in the education field. It has long-term implications for school staffing, equity, and the sustainability of the educator workforce.

This post was originally published on AI School Librarian.

Elissa Malespina

Elissa Malespina is a nationally recognized school librarian, author, board-certified special education advocate, and educational consultant who helps educators, librarians, and school districts navigate the intersection of equity, technology, and innovation. With over 25 years in public education, she's built a career championing inclusive access to information, integrating AI tools into K–12 instruction, and defending the freedom to read. Elissa is the author of "AI in the Library: Strategies, Tools, and Ethics for Today’s Schools, a practical guide to navigating artificial intelligence in educational settings, and "The Educator's AI Prompt Book: Copy-and-Paste Prompts for Lesson Planning, Libraries and Learning." Elissa also writes The AI School Librarians Newsletter, where she shares hands-on tools, ethical insights, and ready-to-use lessons for librarians and educators working with AI. As a contributing author to Trouble in Censorville: The Far Right’s Assault on Public Education and the Teachers Who Are Fighting Back, Elissa advocates nationally for intellectual freedom and inclusive school libraries. She also works directly with families as a board-certified special education advocate, helping them navigate IEPs, 504 Plans, and out-of-district placements to ensure students receive the services they are entitled to. Through her consulting firm, Educational Equity Advisors, Elissa supports schools in launching AI policies, designing makerspaces, building inclusive programs, and delivering professional development that is actionable, equity-driven, and future-ready.

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