May 4, 2026

Many thanks to the approximately 300 CSWA members who sent messages to Department of Education (DoE) about the problems with the proposed change to Federal loans for social work education through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Thanks also to this year’s CSWA intern, Jordyn Skahill, who presented at a Congressional briefing on this issue. Though we were part of the over 80,000 comments that were submitted in opposition to this rule, the rule has gone into effect as of May 1, 2026. This means that the limits for Federal loans have been lowered from $50,000 per year to $20,000 per year and from a total of $200,000 to $100,000 over all. The regulatory reason this has occurred is that the status of social work education has been changed from a “professional” degree to a “graduate” degree.

The rule is called the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) which in addition to limits on Federal loans for degrees in social work affects graduate degrees in education, occupational therapy, naturopathic medicine, nursing, physical therapy, physician assistant, pilot training, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, and public health.

RISE was part of the One Big Beautiful Bill that was passed in July of 2025. Here is a summary that DoE gave for changing graduate social work degrees to “graduate” (https://www.regulations.gov/document/ED-2025-OPE-0944-0001):

The Department has determined that MSW and DSW would not meet the professional degree definition because neither degree is generally required to obtain an entry-level licensure in the social work field or to begin work in a profession. A person may obtain work as a social worker after earning a bachelor's degree. Most states license BSW holders as certified social workers, making the baccalaureate level degree the one necessary to begin practice in the social work profession. In addition, individuals who are licensed with a BSW may later obtain an MSW with only one year of additional coursework, for a total of five years of education compared to six years as provided for in the professional degree definition.

The Department is aware that individuals who have earned an MSW or DSW may obtain work as a clinical social worker, which allows an individual to perform similar work in a supervisory role or to take on heavier caseloads. In some cases, a clinical social worker may perform work that is different than other social workers, but the Department does not believe the statute permits the classification of clinical social work as a separate and distinct profession, as opposed to a specialization or concentration.

This represents a total misunderstanding of the ways that all states and District of Columbia give LCSWs a scope of practice that allows us to diagnose and provide psychotherapy independently. DoE gives a small recognition of mental health clinicians in this statement in the final rule: “The Department acknowledges that many people who work in counseling, marriage and family therapy, social work, nursing, and other practice-oriented fields are professional and deserve respect and praise for their work.” This lukewarm statement seems to contradict the other reasoning for changing graduate social work education from a “professional” to a “graduate” degree.

CSWA is working with other national mental health associations to seek legal or legislative remedies to this unfair change. We will be giving members the results of these efforts, which will hopefully be successful, after the change goes into effect on July 1, 2026.

Contact: Laura Groshong, LICSW, CSWA Director of Policy and Practice, lwgroshong@clinicalsocialworkassociation.org