US Dubs Theology Students as Non-Professional, Limits Loan Amounts

Is nothing sacred?

The U.S. Department of Education this week bumped theology studies to nonprofessional status, meaning theology graduate students will no longer be eligible for the lower federal loan amounts that those enrolled in professional degree programs can receive.

A Court Order Triggered the Change

The change came after a federal judge on June 24 issued a court order temporarily blocking a Trump administration rule that reclassified graduate degrees in nursing and other fields as nonprofessional, restricting them to lower borrowing limits.

In response to the ruling, the DOE restored nursing and other healthcare degrees to professional status, though it said it disagreed with the order and planned to continue defending its original definition. But in the process, the department demoted theology, a field that some had targeted for enjoying professional status when nursing did not.

The list of professional and nonprofessional programs was updated Monday by the DOE’s Federal Student Aid office, and theology program administrators are now among those in limbo as the education department’s criteria continues to face legal challenges. Experts cautioned borrowers to proceed as planned given that broader, sweeping student loan changes set to go into effect July 1 are still ongoing.

What the Loan Caps Mean for Borrowers

The Department of Education’s changes define just 11 degrees as professional, making them eligible for federal student loan limits of $50,000 annually and $200,000 over a lifetime. Other graduate degrees face loan limits of $20,500 annually and $100,000 over a lifetime.

Stacey MacPhetres, senior director of education finance at Bright Horizons, said the court pause makes eligibility for higher loan caps “temporarily uncertain until further guidance is issued.”

According to the DOE, the professional designations are a way to distinguish graduate programs that qualify for higher loan limits, “not a value judgment about the importance of programs.”

By establishing loan caps on certain courses of study, the DOE said it hoped to push graduate programs to lower costs to avoid saddling students with unmanageable loan debt.

While theology and ministry studies were designated as nonprofessional, the master of divinity degree often pursued by eventual pastors or ministers does retain professional status.

John Cavadini, director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, said the DOE’s reclassification of theology likely makes sense given that programs such as philosophy and literature aren’t considered professional.

In contrast, Cavadini said, the master of divinity degree is widely recognized as professional because it involves not just theory but practice. That includes training in a variety of related practices such as liturgical celebration, parish administration and pastoral care “that are not primarily theoretical but are an application of the theology also offered in the degree,” he said.

“The Ph.D. in Theology is not usually thought of as a ‘professional degree’ in the same way,” Cavadini said. “It does not lead of its nature to any particular profession, though often theologians enter the academy — they also can work in seminaries, or in think tanks, or as independent scholars.”

Who’s Actually Affected

While some worry degree costs may exceed loan caps, the redefinition of theology studies as nonprofessional may not have much of an effect, he said. Students are unlikely to seek large loans for doctoral study in a field offering mostly low-paying jobs, and current loan limits are likely sufficient for those seeking two-year master’s degrees.

“I’m not sure it will affect that many people,” Cavadini said.

About 70,000 students ― more than a third of them pursuing master in divinity studies ― are enrolled in graduate or doctoral theology programs across the U.S., according to MinistryWatch, an independent evangelical watchdog organization focused on financial accountability.

Reporting by Marc Ramirez and Medora Lee, USA TODAY / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect