The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) has adopted a narrow definition of “professional degree programs” that determines which graduate degrees qualify for federal student loans. Currently, only a small group of fields, such as medicine, law, dentistry and pharmacy, are classified as professional, while education, counseling, social work, psychology, nursing and public administration are excluded despite being licensed and accredited professions. This classification structurally de-professionalized these fields under the Biden administration, and its effects are now producing financial barriers under the Trump administration through stricter enforcement and reduced access.
The justification rests on return-on-investment (ROI) calculations emphasizing expected earnings, debt-to-income ratios and default risk. As a result, professions that serve the public good but pay less are treated as higher financial risk and penalized accordingly, judged by spreadsheet performance rather than their contributions to a healthy society. In education, this technical distinction now constrains who can afford to enter and remain in the profession.
While initial teacher licensure can be earned at the undergraduate level, professional advancement for teachers, and career entry for individuals with bachelor’s degrees in other fields, depends on graduate education. Teachers are routinely encouraged to pursue graduate degrees to deepen instructional expertise and move into specialized and leadership roles, including reading or mathematics specialists, school counselors and school administrators, all of which address critical needs in schools. These credentials are tied to salary increases, even though compensation in education continues to fall short of what federal ROI frameworks deem acceptable. Consequently, the narrowing of professional degree classifications limits access to federal student loans, forcing reliance on private loans or abandonment of preparation programs and discouraging both teachers seeking advanced training and career-changers, further exacerbating workforce shortages.
The burden falls most heavily on first-generation college students, Pell-eligible students and individuals from rural or high-need communities — the very populations needed to address persistent staffing shortages and inequities. At the same time, the policy sends a powerful message that teaching is less professional than other licensed fields, undermining recruitment, weakening professional identity and eroding public confidence in education.
The data highlight the inequity of this approach. Nationally, the average teacher salary in 2023-24 was approximately $72,000, about 73 cents on the dollar compared to other college-educated professionals. That pay gap is larger than ever and one that has widened over the past decade despite rising credential and licensure requirements. In Virginia, average teacher pay is approximately $66,000. Under these conditions, graduate-level loan repayment is increasingly unrealistic, yet federal ROI models treat suppressed earnings as evidence that education is a poor investment, penalizing the profession while ignoring the policies that have driven educator pay downward.
There are better alternatives. If educators are expected to meet professional standards, they should be compensated accordingly. Raising salaries to reflect required education, licensure and societal responsibility would improve ROI without restricting access and strengthen recruitment and retention. At the federal level, policymakers should expand and stabilize loan repayment plans such as the USDOE Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which protects federal investment while sustaining workforce pipelines.
Federal-state cost sharing models could also help offset educator preparation costs, mirroring successful approaches used in health care through the Health Resources and Services Administration State Loan Repayment Program and in the military through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs GI Bill. Finally, ROI must be redefined to include social return measured through educational outcomes, workforce stability and long-term economic growth. Education is a public investment essential to national infrastructure, not a private gamble.
We demand professional outcomes from teachers. We require professional credentials and licensure. Yet we refuse professional compensation and then punish educators for the consequences. If the return on investment for education is low, the solution is not to de-professionalize educators. The solution is to compensate them like the professionals our society depends on.
Tammi Dice is dean of the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. Ruby Milliken of Virginia Beach is a public administration major at James Madison University.
https://www.dailypress.com/2026/02/07/column-de-professionalizing-teachers-will-harm-us-all/
