Federal Graduate Student Loan Updates

Effective July 1, 2026

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed July 4, 2025, makes significant changes to federal student loan programs for graduate and professional students. Most changes take effect July 1, 2026. Radford University is committed to keeping students informed and maximizing aid eligibility throughout this transition.

Last reviewed: June 2026  |  This page will be updated as federal guidance evolves.

Graduate PLUS loans are eliminated for new borrowers beginning July 1, 2026. Students who begin a new program on or after that date will no longer have access to Graduate PLUS loans. Students who borrowed before July 1, 2026 may qualify for interim exception protection. See below.

New annual and lifetime borrowing caps apply. The limit that applies depends on whether your program is classified as a graduate or professional program under federal rules. This distinction carries significant financial implications and is not always what students expect.

A new $257,500 lifetime borrowing limit applies to all federal loans — including undergraduate loans and any Graduate PLUS loans borrowed before July 1, 2026. This limit applies from the date you become subject to the new rules.

Parent PLUS loans are also affected. New parent borrowers will be limited to $20,000 per dependent student per year and $65,000 in aggregate per dependent student. Interim exception protection may apply to parents who already borrowed before July 1, 2026 for the same student and same program.

Throughout an academic year, if you never borrow more than $20,500, nothing changes for you. Graduate students are still eligible to borrow up to $20,500 in unsubsidized loans.

If you borrow more than $20,500 a year for things like higher program costs and living expenses, you might typically use the $20,500 unsubsidized loans and then apply for additional Graduate Plus loan eligibility. The Graduate Plus loan option will no longer be available to new borrowers.

Why does this impact you? If a student has to borrow a loan to cover their education and living costs, the Graduate Plus loan was the "easiest" option in that it did not require a traditional credit check or a minimum credit score. Instead, eligibility was based only on the absence of adverse credit history, things like recent bankruptcies, defaults, or accounts in collections.

Private student loans, by contrast, require a full credit review including your credit score, debt-to-income ratio, and in many cases a creditworthy cosigner. Students who qualify for private student loans may also face higher interest rates than federal loans offered.

This means that students who previously relied on Graduate Plus to bridge the gap between their unsubsidized loan limit and their actual cost of attendance will now need to qualify for private credit on their own merits, which is a higher bar that not all students will be able to meet without a cosigner.

Annual and aggregate loan limits for undergraduate students are not changing under OBBBA. If you are an undergraduate borrower, your federal loan amounts remain the same.

Radford University is doing everything possible to protect and inform students affected by these federal changes and to maximize federal aid eligibility for every student in every impacted program. We will update this page as guidance evolves.

Federal guidance and pending litigation regarding these changes continues to evolve. This page reflects Radford University's current understanding of applicable regulations and will be updated as new information is released. This page does not constitute legal or financial advice.