The Department of Education’s exclusion of audiology from its new federal “professional degree” designation under RISE could prompt the profession to explore collaborative solutions and intensify advocating for policy change. On May 1, the U.S. Department of Education published its final rule on federal graduate student loans and repayment plans, called Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE)....
No actionable clinical change — this is a policy and advocacy opinion piece with no direct impact on day-to-day patient care.
Audiology's exclusion from the RISE Rule's professional degree designation highlights an ongoing struggle for federal recognition that could affect student loan policy, workforce pipelines, and the profession's long-term standing.
- 01The U.S. Department of Education's RISE Rule grants 'professional degree' status to select fields, but audiology was excluded.
- 02Exclusion may have downstream effects on student loan treatment and federal recognition of the AuD degree.
- 03The author frames the exclusion as a potential catalyst for unified advocacy within the audiology profession.
- 04No immediate clinical or practice-management changes result from the rule as currently written.
- 05The piece calls for collaborative policy reform efforts across audiology organizations.
Audiology was excluded from the U.S. Department of Education's RISE Rule 'professional degree' designation.
opinionpartially supportedThe exclusion of audiology from the RISE Rule could spur collaborative advocacy and policy reform.
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