[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6718 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6718

To amend the definition of professional degree in the Higher Education 
                              Act of 1965.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 15, 2025

Mr. Lawler (for himself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Bresnahan, and Mrs. Kiggans of 
  Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                  Committee on Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the definition of professional degree in the Higher Education 
                              Act of 1965.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Professional Student Degree Act''.

SEC. 2. PROFESSIONAL DEGREE DEFINED.

    Section 455(a)(4)(C) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087e(a)(4)(C)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (ii), by striking ``, as defined under 
        section 668.2 of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 
        effect on the date of enactment of this paragraph),''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) Professional degree.--In this 
                        paragraph, the term `professional degree'--
                                    ``(I) means a degree that signifies 
                                both completion of the academic 
                                requirements for beginning practice in 
                                a given profession (for which 
                                professional licensure is also commonly 
                                required), and a level of professional 
                                skill beyond that normally required for 
                                a bachelor's degree, as determined by 
                                the Secretary; and
                                    ``(II) includes each of the 
                                following degrees:
                                            ``(aa) Pharmacy (Pharm.D.).
                                            ``(bb) Dentistry (D.D.S. or 
                                        D.M.D.).
                                            ``(cc) Veterinary Medicine 
                                        (D.V.M.).
                                            ``(dd) Chiropractic (D.C. 
                                        or D.C.M.).
                                            ``(ee) Law (L.L.B. or 
                                        J.D.).
                                            ``(ff) Medicine (M.D.).
                                            ``(gg) Optometry (O.D.).
                                            ``(hh) Osteopathic 
                                        Medicine/Osteopathy (D.O.).
                                            ``(ii) Podiatric Medicine/
                                        Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or 
                                        Pod.D.).
                                            ``(jj) Theology/Theological 
                                        Studies (M.Div., or M.H.L.).
                                            ``(kk) Clinical Psychology 
                                        (Psy.D. or Ph.D.).
                                            ``(ll) Ministry (D.Min.).
                                            ``(mm) Social Work (M.S.W. 
                                        or D.S.W.).
                                            ``(nn) Audiology (Au.D.).
                                            ``(oo) Physician Assistant/
                                        Associate (M.P.A.S., 
                                        M.S.P.A.S., M.M.S., or M.S.).
                                            ``(pp) Occupational Therapy 
                                        (M.O.T. of O.T.D.).
                                            ``(qq) Physical Therapy 
                                        (D.P.T.).
                                            ``(rr) Nursing (M.S.N., 
                                        D.N.P., or Ph.D.).
                                            ``(ss) Public Health 
                                        (M.P.H.).
                                            ``(tt) Business 
                                        Administration and Management, 
                                        General (M.B.A. or D.B.A.).
                                            ``(uu) Accounting (M.Acc. 
                                        or M.S.A.).
                                            ``(vv) Architecture 
                                        (M.Arch.).
                                            ``(ww) Education (M.A., 
                                        M.S., M.A.T., M.Ed.).
                                            ``(xx) Special Education 
                                        (M.Ed. or M.S.Ed.).
                                            ``(yy) Any other degree 
                                        that meets the requirements of 
                                        subclause (I), as determined by 
                                        the Secretary.''.
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