• Graduate PLUS loans will begin to be phased out on July 1, 2026. After that date, new Graduate PLUS loans will no longer be available to new borrowers.

• Students who already have Graduate PLUS loans may remain eligible during the expected time to credential. This will include transfer credits completed in other programs. For more information, please visit Studentaid.gov. 

• Professional programs (e.g., medicine, law):
  • Students may borrow up to $50,000 per year, with a $200,000 aggregate loan limit.
• Other graduate programs:
  • Students may borrow up to $20,500 per year, with a $100,000 aggregate loan limit.

Important:

All federal student loans you borrow, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional loans, now count toward a combined lifetime limit of $257,500 (includes all subsidized and unsubsidized loans, regardless of amounts paid, cancelled, or discharged). 

• Parent PLUS loans will be capped at $20,000 per student per year, with a $65,000 lifetime limit per dependent student.
• Parent PLUS borrowers who took out loans for a student before July 1, 2026 may continue borrowing under the current limits if they qualified for the limited exception.

• Undergraduate students may borrow between $5,500 and $12,500 per year in undergraduate Federal Direct Loans.
• The new aggregate loan limit for undergraduate students is $31,000 to $57,500, depending on student status.

Important:

Beginning with the 2026–27 academic year, new federal rules under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will lower the amount students can borrow in Federal Direct Loans if they are enrolled less than full-time.

What this means: 

If you attend school part time, your yearly Federal Direct Loan limit may be reduced based on how many credits you take.

In the past, many students could borrow the same annual loan amount whether they attended full-time or part-time. Under the new rules, schools must now reduce loan eligibility for students who are enrolled less than full-time.

This change applies to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students receiving:

• Federal Direct Subsidized Loans
• Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans
• Graduate PLUS Loans (for eligible legacy borrowers)

Starting July 1, 2026, new federal student loan limits from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will apply to many students. However, some students can keep using the old loan limits for a short time. This is called the interim exception or legacy borrowing.

You may qualify if you:

• were already enrolled in your program by June 30, 2026, and
• received a federal student loan for that same program before July 1, 2026.

If you qualify, you can continue using the previous loan limits for up to 3 years or the amount of time you still need to finish your program (“expected time to credential”), whichever is shorter.

Note: Changing programs, taking a leave of absence, or other enrollment changes may affect your ability to be included in the legacy provision. This does not include summer term. 

• your enrollment status (full-time, half-time, etc.)
• the number of credits you are enrolled in
• the portion of the academic year your enrollment represents.

Yes. Eligible students may still receive Federal Direct Loans while enrolled at least half-time, but loan amounts may be lower than the standard annual limit.

This change only affects certain Federal Direct Loan annual limits. Other aid programs may not be impacted. For more information, regarding scholarship or grants please visit Anticipated Aid, Census Date, and Financial Aid Eligibility.

Expected time to credential is based on the published length of the academic program, minus the portion of the program already completed as of the eligibility determination date. 

The federal rules cap this exception at a maximum of three academic years, even if a student has more time remaining in the program.

Example 1: Undergraduate Student
A student in a 4-year bachelor’s program has completed 2 years by June 30, 2026. Their remaining time to completion is 2 years.
In this scenario, the student may continue borrowing under the old loan rules for up to 2 additional years.

Example 2: Graduate Student
A student in a 2-year master's degree program has completed 1 year by June 30, 2026. Their remaining time is 1 years.
In this scenario, because the exception is capped at 3 years or less, the student may continue borrowing under the old rules for only 1 additional years.

1. Be enrolled in the program by June 30, 2026
2. Have already received a federal loan for that program before July 1, 2026

Changing to a different academic program may affect eligibility for the interim exception because the exception applies to the specific program in which you were enrolled before July 1, 2026.

Yes. Federal aggregate and lifetime loan limits that begin July 1, 2026, may include amounts borrowed before that date.

Parent PLUS Loans are not subject to the less-than-full-time loan reduction rules, but certain Parent PLUS borrowers may qualify for interim exception protections under legacy borrowing rules.