Graduate and professional school loan limits by program (2026)

From July 1, 2026, Grad PLUS is closed to new borrowers and federal loans for graduate school are capped. Whether you get $20,500 or $50,000 a year depends on whether your program counts as professional, which a court case has made less clear-cut.

Updated October 31, 2026 · Based on official sources listed below · How we research

$20,500

a year for graduate students, $100,000 in total

$50,000

a year for professional students, $200,000 in total

$257,500

lifetime limit on federal student loans, undergraduate included

July 1, 2026

Grad PLUS closed to new borrowers

The new limits in one paragraph

The 2025 budget law (Public Law 119-21) and the Education Department’s final rule of May 1, 2026 ended Grad PLUS for new borrowers and capped Direct Unsubsidized Loans for loan periods beginning on or after July 1, 2026. Graduate students can borrow $20,500 a year and $100,000 in total; professional students can borrow $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total; and no student can exceed $257,500 in federal student loans over a lifetime, a figure that includes undergraduate loans and is not restored by repayment. Students already enrolled with a federal loan before July 1, 2026 keep the old rules for up to three academic years. The graduate loan limits calculator applies all of this year by year.

Which degrees count as professional

The final rule defines a professional student as one enrolled in a program that awards a professional degree (34 CFR 685.102(b)). It names eleven fields: pharmacy (Pharm.D.), dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.), veterinary medicine (D.V.M.), chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.), law (L.L.B. or J.D.), medicine (M.D.), optometry (O.D.), osteopathic medicine (D.O.), podiatry (D.P.M., D.P. or Pod.D.), theology (M.Div. or M.H.L.) and clinical psychology (Psy.D. or Ph.D.). Other programs could qualify only if they shared a four-digit CIP code with a listed field and were generally doctoral, required at least six years of postsecondary study and led to licensure. Under that rule, nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy, MBA and most other graduate programs were graduate programs.

On June 24, 2026, a federal court in Washington, D.C. temporarily stayed part of the definition, in a lawsuit brought by organizations representing nurse practitioners and physician associates. The stay suspended the tests in paragraph (i) of the definition: doctoral level, six years of study, licensure and the same four-digit CIP code as a listed field. The Department of Education responded with Electronic Announcement GENERAL-26-42 on June 29, 2026, updated July 10 and October 30, listing the programs it treats as professional “for the duration of the Court’s stay.” That list adds physician assistant, physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, speech-language pathology, athletic training, anesthesiologist assistant, MSN, DNP and nurse anesthesia (DNAP) programs, and, after a separate October 16 injunction, naturopathic medicine.

The Department also told schools they “may wish to consider” limiting loans for these temporarily added programs to the graduate caps “to mitigate potential disruption to student borrowers,” and said the designations “may change as litigation in the cases proceeds.” The briefing in the D.C. case is scheduled to close on December 4, 2026, and no date has been set for a final decision. So during the stay, your loan limit depends partly on your school. Ask the financial aid office which limit it uses.

The Department’s list of programs not treated as professional during the stay includes theology and theological studies (the M.Div. and M.H.L. are listed separately as divinity and rabbinical studies), several psychology specialties, and pharmacy-related master’s and PhD fields such as pharmaceutical sciences.

Loan limits and costs by program

Program	Final rule (May 2026)	During the court stay	Federal limit for new students	Typical length	Cost or debt benchmark
Medical school (MD, DO)M.D., D.O.	Professional	Professional	$50,000 a year, $200,000 total	4 years	Four-year COA median, class of 2026: $297,745 public, $408,150 private (AAMC)
Law school (JD)J.D., LL.B.	Professional	Professional	$50,000 a year, $200,000 total	3 years full time	2026–27 first-year COA $112,962–$130,724 at nine top private law schools (school pages)
Dental school (DDS, DMD)D.D.S., D.M.D.	Professional	Professional	$50,000 a year, $200,000 total	4 years	Average first-year tuition and fees, 2025–26: $46,845 public resident, $90,090 private (ADA)
Pharmacy school (PharmD)Pharm.D.	Professional	Professional	$50,000 a year, $200,000 total	4 years (some 3-year accelerated)	Median amount borrowed for the PharmD, 2025 graduates: $170,000 (AACP)
Veterinary school (DVM)D.V.M.	Professional	Professional	$50,000 a year, $200,000 total	4 years	Mean debt of 2026 graduates with debt: $227,588 (AVMA Senior Survey)
Optometry school (OD)O.D.	Professional	Professional	$50,000 a year, $200,000 total	4 years	Average debt of 2024–25 graduates with debt: $209,280 (ASCO)
Physician assistant (PA)MSPA, MPAS, MHS	Graduate	Professional while the stay lasts	$20,500 / $100,000 under the rule; $50,000 / $200,000 during the stay if the school applies them	Median 27 months	Mean total program tuition: $57,955 public resident, $100,212 private (PAEA, 2020–21)
Nursing (MSN, DNP, CRNA)MSN, DNP, DNAP, PhD	Graduate	Professional while the stay lasts	$20,500 / $100,000 under the rule; $50,000 / $200,000 during the stay if the school applies them	Nurse anesthesia: 36 months	No verified national cost figure; AANA says nurse anesthesia students would need $77,000+ in private loans on average
Physical therapy (DPT)DPT	Graduate	Professional while the stay lasts	$20,500 / $100,000 under the rule; $50,000 / $200,000 during the stay if the school applies them	Mean 122.6 weeks	Mean total program cost: $74,348 public in-state, $129,942 private (CAPTE, 2025)
MBAMBA	Graduate	Graduate	$20,500 a year, $100,000 total	2 years full time	2026–27 first-year COA $118,196–$143,030 at 12 top full-time MBA programs (school pages)
Master’s and PhDMA, MS, MEd, MPH, MSW, PhD and others	Graduate	Graduate	$20,500 a year, $100,000 total	1–2 years (master’s); varies (PhD)	Average graduate tuition and fees, 2021–22: $12,596 public, $29,931 private nonprofit (NCES)
Psychology (PsyD, PhD)Psy.D., Ph.D.	Professional	Professional	$50,000 a year, $200,000 total	Multi-year, including internship	Median 2009 debt: $120,000 PsyD vs $50,000 PhD (APA); newer national data not available

Benchmarks come from the professional association or federal source cited on each program page, for the year shown. They are not all the same measure: some are full cost of attendance, some tuition only, some debt at graduation. Each page explains what its figures cover.

The funding gap, roughly

Medicine: the AAMC’s median four-year cost of attendance for the class of 2026 is $297,745 at public and $408,150 at private schools, so the $200,000 aggregate leaves a median gap of about $98,000 to $208,000 before grants.
Law: at the most selective private law schools the 2026–27 budget is $113,000 to $131,000 a year, against $50,000 of federal loans.
Dentistry: indebted 2025 graduates averaged $297,800 in educational debt (ADEA), more than the new $257,500 lifetime limit.
MBA: a single year at a top full-time program costs more than the $100,000 graduate aggregate.
Research PhD: most new doctorates (73.4% in 2024) finish with no graduate school debt, because programs fund them.

If you were already enrolled

If you were enrolled in your program on June 30, 2026 and a Direct Loan for that program was disbursed before July 1, 2026, the old limits and Grad PLUS continue for the lesser of three academic years or the time left in your program (34 CFR 685.200(b)(2)(ii)). The Department says these students also keep the higher Unsubsidized amounts that certain health-profession programs had. When the exception ends, loans from the legacy years count toward the $257,500 lifetime limit.

Options when federal loans fall short

Measure the gap for your whole program with the calculator, not just the first year.
Ask the school which limit it applies, whether it has set its own lower limit, and what institutional aid it offers.
Look at service programs that pay for school in return for work: National Health Service Corps, military health professions scholarships, NURSE Corps, the Indian Health Service and USDA’s veterinary loan repayment, depending on your field.
Keep federal options in view. Public Service Loan Forgiveness and the Repayment Assistance Plan apply to federal Direct Loans only.
Compare private loans last on APR, deferment, forbearance and discharge terms. We do not recommend specific lenders.

Frequently asked questions

Which degrees are professional degrees for federal student loans?

Under the May 2026 final rule: pharmacy (Pharm.D.), dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine (M.D.), optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, theology (M.Div. or M.H.L.) and clinical psychology (Psy.D. or Ph.D.). While a June 2026 court stay lasts, the Department also treats PA, physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, speech-language pathology, athletic training, anesthesiologist assistant, MSN, DNP and nurse anesthesia programs, several other Psy.D. programs and naturopathic medicine as professional.

Is nursing a professional degree for student loans?

Not under the final rule. During the court stay, MSN, DNP and nurse anesthesia (DNAP) programs are on the Department’s temporary professional list, but schools may keep them at the graduate limit and the list may change. See nursing loan limits.

Is Grad PLUS gone for everyone?

For new borrowers, yes, from July 1, 2026. Students enrolled in a program on June 30, 2026 who had a Direct Loan for it disbursed before July 1, 2026 can keep borrowing Grad PLUS for up to three academic years.

Do undergraduate loans count toward the graduate limits?

Not toward the $100,000 or $200,000 graduate aggregate, which counts loans borrowed as a graduate or professional student. They do count toward the $257,500 lifetime limit.

Where do the cost figures come from?

From the professional associations and federal sources for each field (AAMC, AACOM, ADA, ADEA, AACP, AVMA, ASCO, PAEA, CAPTE, LSAC, NCES, NSF and APA) and from schools’ own published cost-of-attendance pages. We omit any figure we could not verify on an official page.