S4568Referred to Committee

Nursing is a Professional Degree Act

Share:
Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2026-05-19
Introduced
5
Cosponsors
S
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Jeff Merkley
Jeff Merkley
Democrat · OR · Senator
Votes with party: 65.3% (323 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/M001176

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (5)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

2026-05-19

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

Plain-English Summary

The bill would change how the federal government defines "professional student" under higher education law, which affects which students qualify for federal financial aid, loans, and other education benefits. The specific changes would determine whether certain graduate and professional degree programs—such as those in medicine, law, or other specialized fields—meet the requirements for federal student aid eligibility. This could expand or restrict access to federal education funding for students pursuing advanced professional degrees.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4568 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4568 To amend the definition of professional student in the Higher Education Act of 1965. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 19, 2026 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Wicker, Ms. Lummis, Ms. Murkowski, and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the definition of professional student 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 ``Nursing is a Professional Degree Act''. SEC. 2. PROFESSIONAL STUDENT AND 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; and ``(II) includes each of the following: ``(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 or Osteopathy (D.O.). ``(ii) Podiatric Medicine or Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.). ``(jj) Theology or Theological Studies (M.Div. or M.H.L.). ``(kk) Clinical Psychology (Psy.D. or Ph.D.). ``(ll) Nursing (MSN, DNP, DNAP, or Ph.D). ``(mm) Any other degree that meets the requirements of subclause (I), as determined by the Secretary.''. <all>
Open clean-text viewRead on Congress.gov →

Related legislation

Bills by the same sponsor or covering overlapping subjects.