Make your Voice Heard!

The U.S. Department of Education has issued a Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Proposed Rule that includes a proposed definition of “professional student,” that would exclude accredited genetic counseling programs, and limit federal loan eligibility for students preparing to enter our profession.

Excluding genetic counseling programs from the professional degree designation would force many students to rely on high-interest private loans or abandon their training altogether—undermining workforce growth at a time when demand for genetic counselors continues to rise.

NSGC has issued organizational comment requesting that the U.S. Department of Education revise the proposed definition to include accredited genetic counseling programs, or to adopt a more flexible standard that recognizes all graduate-level programs leading to licensed healthcare professions with national certification requirements. 

We are asking all NSGC members to consider sending your own, individual comments on this issue. 

Comments can be submitted on regulations.gov here: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/ED-2025-OPE-0944-0001 

Comments may be pasted in directly to the text box and/or submitted as an attachment. 

Ensuring appropriate federal loan access for genetic counseling students is essential to sustaining a diverse, well-trained genomic workforce and expanding access to precision medicine for patients nationwide.