Dover native Angelica Malone is a registered behavior technician and soon-to-be doctoral student in psychology.
When the State News first featured me in 2019, I was a 16-year-old Early College High School graduate, preparing to begin college. I had made headlines for graduating high school at an unusually young age, earning more than 40 college credits, beginning at age 12, and receiving over $1 million in scholarship offers. At the time, I hoped to one day address our state’s growing mental health crisis. I reiterated this goal in 2023, when the State News featured me once again after graduating with my bachelor’s degree. Today, after earning my master’s degree, I am preparing to begin doctoral training. Yet I, along with many other incoming psychology doctoral students, now face policy challenges that could place that goal out of reach.
Across the country, healthcare students, including those in mental health, are trying to navigate major changes to our federal student loan system. After the implementation of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” Graduate PLUS loans are being phased out for new borrowers, and the amount doctoral students can borrow now depends heavily on how our programs are classified under federal regulations. For many future psychologists, access to funding will determine whether they can complete the education required for licensure and enter the workforce.
A large part of the issue revolves around the current uncertainty about how these new federal regulations are being interpreted and applied. For instance, when I enrolled in my current doctoral program, my school administrators informed me that, due to being a counseling psychology program, under the new regulations, our program is considered a “graduate degree,” rather than a “professional degree,” and is, therefore, not eligible for the higher loan limit afforded to doctorates in other fields of psychology. Following this determination, members of my cohort have already withdrawn or denied their acceptances, reducing the number of future psychologists.
However, my university’s interpretation is not the only interpretation of the new federal guidelines. I have spoken with professional organizations, university administrators, elected officials and members of the media, and it is clear that there is still confusion regarding how some psychology doctoral programs should be classified under the new rules. For instance, the American Psychological Association’s deputy chief for education and training policy confirmed that “Counseling Psychology is in fact included in the professional degree designation for the purposes of the new federal student loan limits,” dependent on the program’s “CIP code.”
CIP (classification of instructional programs) codes are federal codes assigned to academic programs. According to the APA, under the new regulations, these codes play a major role in determining whether a doctoral program is considered a graduate program or a professional program for federal borrowing purposes and the subsequent applicable borrowing limit. This includes all psychology doctorate programs with CIP codes beginning in “42.28,” including those in counseling, school or developmental psychology as professional degrees. However, this still excludes the several programs around the nation with other CIP codes, such as 27.99, which are also used for psychology doctoral programs.
As a workaround to the confusing new changes, some institutions are creating early-summer enrollments, to attempt to ensure that students can be grandfathered in before the July 1 cutoff date for Graduate PLUS loans, avoiding the changes altogether. This has put incoming Doctor of Psychology students in a strange position, as many of us are hoping our financial aid packages are processed before the national deadline, with mere days making or breaking our futures.
Clarification on these guidelines is essential. Delaware currently faces an ongoing shortage of healthcare providers of all kinds, including mental health providers. Wait times for clinicians and other care providers can often be months long. We are one of the only states that doesn’t have a single medical school, and Delaware also lacks a single Doctor of Psychology program. Psychologists are necessary in diagnosing mental illness, conducting assessments, providing evidence-based treatment and supporting individuals with severe mental health conditions. Reducing the availability of future psychologists could have long-term consequences for access to care throughout our state.
Throughout my educational journey, Delaware has invested in me. This state celebrated my accomplishments when I was a teen, supported me as I earned my degrees and shaped my desire to serve others through a career as a clinician in psychology. That is why I have spent the past several weeks reaching out to university administrators, professional organizations, elected officials and members of the media. More transparency on these changes is paramount. We must encourage clear federal guidance, consistent implementation of these regulations and policies that do not unintentionally create barriers for future psychologists and healthcare professionals. I want to see students judged by their ability to serve their communities, not by confusion and restriction due to administrative classifications.
The young student who spoke to the State News seven years ago still wants the same thing today: the opportunity to become a clinician and help meet the growing mental health needs of our state. I hope that future students will have that same opportunity and hope to see Delaware lawmakers and representatives advocate for just that.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
