S. 4568

[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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