H.R. 8659

Summary

H.R. 8659, the Nursing is a Professional Degree Act, was introduced in the House on May 4, 2026 by Rep. Jennifer Kiggans (R) with 2 co-sponsors. It was referred to Education and Workforce, and last saw action on May 4, 2026: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

Record

Text

H.R. 8659 has 2 co-sponsors.

119 HR 8659 IH: Nursing is a Professional Degree Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2026-05-04
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  H. R. 8659  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   May 4, 2026   Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia  (for herself,  Mrs. Beatty , and  Mr. Bergman ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Education and Workforce    A BILL
To amend the definition of a professional student in the Higher Education Act of 1965.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Nursing is a Professional Degree Act  .
2.
Professional student and professional degree defined
Section 455(a)(4)(C) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1087e(a)(4)(C) ) is amended—
(1)
in clause (ii), by striking  , as defined under section 668.2 of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this paragraph), ; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following:
(iii)
Professional degree
In this paragraph, the term  professional degree —
(I)
means a degree that signifies both completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession (for which professional licensure is also commonly required) and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor’s degree; and
(II)
includes each of the following degrees:
(aa)
Pharmacy (Pharm.D.).
(bb)
Dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.).
(cc)
Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.).
(dd)
Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.).
(ee)
Law (L.L.B. or J.D.).
(ff)
Medicine (M.D.).
(gg)
Optometry (O.D.).
(hh)
Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy (D.O.).
(ii)
Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.).
(jj)
Theology/Theological Studies (M.Div. or M.H.L.).
(kk)
Clinical Psychology (Psy.D. or Ph.D.).
(ll)
Nursing (MSN, DNP, DNAP, or Ph.D).
(mm)
Any other degree that meets the requirements of subclause (I), as determined by the Secretary.
 .

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

To amend the definition of a professional student in the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Sponsors

Rep. Jennifer Kiggans (R) sponsors H.R. 8659, and 2 members have co-sponsored it, all of them from the day it was introduced; 1 has since withdrawn.

Jennifer Kiggans

Rep. · R–VA-2 · Sponsor

Introduced May 4, 2026

Joyce Beatty

Rep. · D–OH-3 · Withdrawn

Joined May 4, 2026 · Original · Withdrawn May 12, 2026

Jack Bergman

Rep. · R–MI-1 · Co-sponsor

Joined May 4, 2026 · Original

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Committees

H.R. 8659 went before 1 committee: Education and Workforce.

Education and Workforce

Education and Workforce

Referred To · May 4, 2026 · 824 Bills

Actions

H.R. 8659 has taken 2 actions since May 4, 2026.

Votes

H.R. 8659 has not gone to a roll call.

Related bills

3 bills are related to H.R. 8659.

HR 6718Professional Student Degree ActDec 15, 2025 · Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · Related billHR 8691Nursing is a Professional Degree ActMay 7, 2026 · Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · Identical billS 4568Nursing is a Professional Degree ActMay 19, 2026 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensi… · Related bill

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Titles

H.R. 8659 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

• Nursing is a Professional Degree Act — Display Title
• To amend the definition of a professional student in the Higher Education Act of 1965. — Official Title as Introduced
• Nursing is a Professional Degree Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced

Lobbying

3 clients hired 3 firms and 9 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 8659 in 3 quarterly filings, 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Budget/Appropriations, Education, Health Issues, Medicare/Medicaid, Science/Technology, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 8659 under Health, one of its 31 policy areas.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 8659’s is Health.

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 8659, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 77 (Monday, May 4, 2026)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia:H.R. 8659.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article One Section Eight of the United StatesConstitution.[Page H3338]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com