Accounting groups band together to protest Ed. Dept. downgrade

Nine organizations including the American Institute of CPAs have sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education expressing strong opposition to draft regulations that would exclude accounting from recognition as a professional degree program, urging accounting programs be included in the proposed rule.

Last month, the Department of Education released a proposed framework that would leave out accounting, as well as nursing, education, architecture, social work and more from the definition of a professional degree program, reducing the amount of student loan aid available for post-graduate education. The AICPA and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy registered their objections last month, as did the American Accounting Association. Now they are joining with six other groups in a coalition to oppose the changes.

The coalition includes the following organizations:

• AGA – formerly the Association of Government Accountants;
• American Institute of CPAs (AICPA);
• American Accounting Association (AAA);
• Center for Audit Quality (CAQ);
• Financial Executives International (FEI);
• Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA);
• NABA, Inc.;
• National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA); and,
• National Council of Philippine American Canadian Accountants (NCPACA).

"Accounting is a profession," the coalition wrote in a letter Monday to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. "It is state-licensed, built on rigorous education beyond a standard bachelor's degree, validated by the Uniform CPA Examination and governed by ethics and competency standards. Students pursuing this pathway should have equitable access to graduate-level financing, consistent with other recognized professional programs that serve critical public needs.

"The recent Department of Education draft regulation, which would exclude accounting programs across the country from a professional degree designation for the purposes of graduate student loan eligibility, would have a detrimental impact on the profession," the letter continued. "Excluding accounting would reduce graduate loan eligibility and related funding for students preparing to enter a licensed profession that safeguards financial transparency, compliance and the public interest."

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Department of Education is required to identify "professional degree" programs that will be eligible for higher federal lending limits. A negotiating committee convened by the agency has proposed a consensus definition that designates medicine, dentistry, law and several other high-cost programs as eligible for a $200,000 borrowing limit. Students who pursue a degree in other graduate or doctoral programs would be capped at $100,000 in federal loans. Undergraduate students would not be affected by the lending limits. The Department of Education has previously pointed out that it hasn't yet published a proposed or final rule and there will still be opportunities for the public to weigh in on the issue before the rule is finalized early next year.