Do you need a doctorate to become a professional? In a growing number of fields, especially in health areas, the answer is yes. For example, new US audiologists and physical therapists who until recently just needed master’s degrees now must have doctorates to enter professional practice, and several other fields appear to be moving in this direction. As a result, doctoral enrollments in these areas have skyrocketed since 2000. This presentation, an expansion of Ami Zusman’s earlier work on professional doctorates, discusses who and what are driving the creation and expansion of these new degrees, how they compare to older doctoral degrees, and their outcomes and implications – for access to professions, quality of client care, future doctoral requirements, and the meaning of a doctorate. Series: "Center for Studies in Higher Education" [Education] [Show ID: 30869]