Statement by AACTE’s Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy on New ‘Professional Student’ Definition, Student Loan Eligibility

Recent headlines remind us that too many individuals still question whether educators, nurses, counselors, and social workers are truly professionals. This erosion of respect for those who care for, teach, and serve our communities is deeply troubling. It is also dangerous. When we diminish educators’ professional status, we undermine the very foundation on which our society depends.

Last summer’s budget reconciliation bill added a new layer to this concern. The legislation created two categories for post-baccalaureate students — graduate and professional — and made students in “graduate” programs eligible for far less in federal student loans. Now, as the U.S. Department of Education drafts regulations to determine which fields qualify as “professional,” its current proposal would exclude education — along with nursing, counseling, social work, and other fields.

If enacted, it would reduce access to essential financial support for students pursuing graduate degrees in education, who make up nearly 60% of degree recipients in the field. These are teachers, school counselors, and administrators — the professionals we depend on to prepare our nation’s children and ensure our schools thrive. Equally concerning, it would again signal that their work is somehow less serious or less valuable than other professions.

But make no mistake: education is a profession.

Professional work in education demands deep pedagogical and subject-matter expertise, extensive clinical experience, ethical responsibility, and proper licensure and credentials. Educators are trusted with the intellectual and emotional growth of children. Their preparation is, as it should be, thorough, demanding, and highly specialized because children’s lives and futures are at stake.

To deny this reality is insulting and harmful. It will further weaken an already strained educator pipeline at a time when our country faces severe shortages in teaching, counseling, and leadership roles.

Every day, AACTE’s member institutions prepare the highly skilled professionals who nurture and guide students across America. We do this work in partnership with our colleagues in nursing, social work, and other fields that sustain the health and well-being of families and communities.

I therefore call on the U.S. Department of Education to expand the definition of “professional programs” to include education, nursing, social work, and related disciplines. These fields represent the backbone of our civic infrastructure.

Educators are professionals — without question, without exception — and they deserve both our respect and our full federal support.