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Recent federal court decisions have brought a significant victory for the research community, with important implications for social work research infrastructure and funding stability.   January 2026: Appeals Court Blocks NIH Indirect Cost Cap In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit unanimously upheld a lower court ruling preventing the National Institutes […]

The following public comment was submitted by the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) to the U.S. Department of Education in response to its proposed revisions to the definition of “professional degrees.” The Department is considering changes to this definition that would affect eligibility for federal student loan programs for graduate education. Social work

SSWR Talking Points, Script and Call to Action: Protect Social Work as a Professional Degree Background: The Department of Education has updated its definition of “professional degrees,” a classification that determines federal student loan eligibility for graduate programs. Although social work has long been recognized as a professional degree, the proposed rule would exclude social

Summary of Recent Federal Actions Affecting Social Work, Higher Education, and the Research Pipeline Dear SSWR Members, During the recent Social Work Leadership Roundtable briefing with our government relations partners at Lewis-Burke Associates, we received a comprehensive update on the rapidly shifting federal policy landscape. While much of this information has been ongoing in 2025,