A health expert has called out the Trump administration over what he calls the "sharpest threat" in decades.
The U.S. Department of Education has claimed it will redefine what it considers a "professional degree," claiming it's tied to an attempt to reduce costs. The department has planned to recategorize nursing, public health, social work, physician assistant studies, audiology and physical therapy as "nonprofessional."
But the move could have lasting repercussions on everyday Americans and the people working towards these roles in health care — disproportionately hurting women and people of color, Thoai D Ngo, chair and professor of the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, wrote in an opinion piece for Newsweek published Friday.
"But in truth, it poses one of the sharpest threats in decades to our nation’s health‑workforce pipeline and Americans’ access to care," Ngo wrote. "It will impact whether a child in a rural county, a senior in care, or a parent or child in an underserved community will get the care and services they need."
The reality is that the change will lessen people's abilities to obtain federal graduate loans, including one financial aid option, Grad PLUS. The federal loan is what many graduate students turn to when they enter nursing or public health fields. Students who want to pursue these fields will face major financial deterrents and could further increase workforce shortages and "further devalue professions already facing burnout, shortages and recruitment challenges."
The added financial pressure will make graduate degrees further out of reach for students and ultimately take away from the American health care system's focus on prevention, "crippling the nation’s ability to care for itself," Ngo explained.
"Reducing access to federal loans will likely put graduate degrees beyond the reach of many students—particularly those from under‑represented or economically marginalized communities," Ngo added. "The results will be devastating: fewer of these essential workers, which will result in reduced or eliminated services and entire communities being left behind."
