[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8659 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8659

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2026

 Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia (for herself, Mrs. Beatty, and Mr. Bergman) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the definition of a 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 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) Nursing (MSN, DNP, 
                                        DNAP, or Ph.D).
                                            ``(mm) Any other degree 
                                        that meets the requirements of 
                                        subclause (I), as determined by 
                                        the Secretary.''.
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