Workforce News 2026July3

Workforce- Haiti TPS

Several LeadingAge members have asked what they should be doing now that the Supreme Court has issued a decision on Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. Employers should expect further guidance from DHS on this topic and should take no action based solely on the Court’s decision. Members are encouraged to identify employees who could be affected by the decision to and to monitor USCIS’ I-9 Central  and Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Haiti. Individual TPS holders may have other immigration and employment authorization pathways — adjustment of status, pending petitions, family-based options — but those are case-specific. Affected employees should be encouraged to consult with qualified immigration counsel as soon as possible.

Department of Education Issues Updated List of Professional Degree Programs Due to Court Order on the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Final Rule.

On June 29, 2026, the Department of Education (ED) issued an updated interim list of programs treated as granting professional degrees in response to a court order relating to ED's Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) final rule. ED issued the RISE final rule on May 1, 2026, which implemented changes to federal student loan limits for graduate and professional degree programs. LeadingAge had expressed concerns that the rule's approach to redefining “professional degree” would result in significant harm to the aging services workforce. The RISE final rule subsequently faced legal challenges in several federal district courts. On June 24, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order to preliminarily set aside and stay certain aspects of the definition of "professional degree" in the RISE final rule, while the case is being decided on its merits. The Department of Education, in turn, issued Electronic Announcement (GENERAL-26-42) Update to List of Professional Degree Programs Due to Court Order, which states that, for the duration of the court's preliminary stay, ED was treating an interim list of programs as awarding professional degrees for the purpose of administering statutory loan limits. This interim list of programs includes audiology/audiologist, speech-language pathology/pathologist, physical therapy/therapist, occupational therapy/therapist, physician associate/assistant, and registered nursing/registered nurse. The Department Education, however, stated that it will continue to defend the definition of "professional degree" in the RISE final rule and that "[t]hese interim administrative designations are provided solely to facilitate implementation of the Court’s order and may change as litigation in the case proceeds." The Department of Education also provided a list of programs that are not considered programs that award professional degrees for the duration of the stay, which includes geropsychology. Additionally, the Department of Education advised institutions "to consider, for programs now temporarily classified as awarding professional degrees pursuant to the Court’s order, limiting loan amounts to the graduate-level caps to mitigate potential disruption to student borrowers resulting from changes in program classification that may arise from the ongoing litigation." We will continue to monitor any developments relating to this litigation. 

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