H.R. 8659

[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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