The 'one big, beautiful bill' legislation establishes federal graduate student borrowing caps that, starting 2026-07-01, limit students in programs defined as professional to $50,000 per year with a $200,000 lifetime cap, and limit students in graduate programs not defined as professional to $20,500 per year with a $100,000 lifetime cap.
July 01, 2026
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policy
New statutory borrowing limits for graduate and professional students created by recently enacted legislation.
The 'one big, beautiful bill' legislation eliminates the Grad PLUS loan program, which previously allowed graduate students to borrow up to the full cost of obtaining a degree.
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policy
Statutory change removing a federal graduate borrowing mechanism.
The U.S. Department of Education's proposed definition of a 'professional degree' states that such a degree 'signifies both completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession, and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor's degree.'
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definition
Administrative definition used to determine which graduate programs qualify for higher federal loan limits.
Under the U.S. Department of Education's proposal, programs defined as professional degrees include pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, and theology.
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classification
List of program types the department's proposal treats as professional degrees for loan-cap purposes.