AIA warns architecture degree reclassification may drive students away

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has criticized the U.S. federal government's reclassification of advanced architecture degrees from "professional" to "graduate" under the One Big Beautiful Bill and the RISE rule by the Department of Education. AIA president Illya Azaroff stated that this creates unnecessary barriers for students, especially those from lower-income backgrounds, and may push them toward higher-cost private loans or out of the profession. The reclassification imposes stricter borrowing caps: $20,500 annually and a $100,000 lifetime limit for master's programs, while eliminating the Grad PLUS loan. The AIA argues that architecture meets the criteria for professional degrees, which prepare students for specific careers like law or medicine, and calls on Congress to correct the policy. Professors Andrea Dietz and Peggy Deamer previously called the ruling "devastating, and also welcome" in a Dezeen opinion piece.