[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4568 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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.''.
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