As the Trump Administration seeks to cap social work students' access to federal loan programs, Bryn Mawr has joined advocacy efforts to affirm social work as a professional field and that restricting access to federal loan options will further deter prospective students from entering an already strained workforce pipeline. GSSWSR Dean Janet Shapiro submitted the following public comment to the Department of Education on February 2, 2026.
February 2, 2026
Dear U.S. Department of Education,
Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on the proposed revisions affecting which graduate programs are classified as “professional degrees” and the associated changes to federal graduate loan limits. Social workers form a cornerstone of the nation’s behavioral health workforce, and a master’s degree is required for the licensure necessary to practice in clinical and advanced roles (BLS, 2025; HRSA, 2023).
I am writing in my role as Dean of the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College to urge the Department to recognize graduate education in social work as a professional degree, designate MSW students as professional students for federal lending purposes and ensure that student loan policies support entry of diverse students into this critical profession. Excluding social work from the professional degree definition will harm students, communities, and public health and mental health systems. Recognizing social work as a professional degree is essential to meeting the nation’s mental health and social service needs.
Graduate education in social work is both intensive and costly due to specialized curricula and required clinical internships that are primarily unpaid. Graduate level training in social work is a foundational requirement for professional practice and licensure. Independent clinical social work licensure across states requires completion of an accredited MSW program and extensive supervised practice, commonly totaling approximately 1,000 hours (CSWE, 2025). Restricting access to federal loan options will further deter prospective students from entering an already strained workforce pipeline (GAO, 2022; NASFAA, 2025).
I respectfully urge the Department of Education to reconsider the changes made in Section 81001(2) of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which amends Section 455(a) of the Higher Education Act and revises the definitions of professional student, professional degree, and length of study. Specifically, licensed, master-level social work programs should retain recognition as professional degrees for the purposes of federal graduate lending.
Dr. Janet Shapiro
Dean and Professor, Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research
Bryn Mawr College
jshapiro@brynmwar.edu
