Parent PLUS Loans will continue to to be available, but new borrowing limits will apply. Some students will be able to qualify for legacy protections. See the legacy section above for more details. 

New Annual Limit

• Parents may borrow up to $20,000 per student, per year.

New Lifetime Limit

• Parents may borrow up to a total of $65,000 per student in total

Under the New Rules

• Families who borrow $20,000 per year could reach the $65,000 lifetime limit before a student completes four years of undergraduate study.

 New Proration Rules

• PLUS Loan eligibility is tied to the student's cost of attendance and enrollment level. If a student is enrolled less than full-time, the PLUS loan amount borrowed will be prorated (reduced).

Graduate PLUS loans will be eliminated for enrollment periods that begin on or after July 1, 2026. This means:

• New Graduate/Professional students will no longer be able to borrow Graduate PLUS loans for any new academic term that starts on or after July 1, 2026.
• Graduate students will instead need to rely on Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans and any other available funding options, such as private loans
• Some graduate students may qualify for legacy protection. See legacy section above for more details. 

For students enrolled in graduate degree programs (such as a master’s or doctoral program that is not classified as a professional program):

• The annual Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan limit will remain $20,500 per year, which is the same as the current annual limit.

• A new lifetime loan limit of $100,000 will apply.

The lifetime limit means the maximum total amount you can borrow for graduate study over time.

Important:

• This $100,000 limit applies only to graduate-level borrowing.

• This new limit does not include any loans you borrowed as an undergraduate student.

What degree is considered professional has been re-defined  by the Department of Education, not LSUHSC.

LSUHSC's professional degrees are:

• Medicine
• Doctorate of Dental

For students enrolled in professional degree programs:

• The annual Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan limit will be $50,000 per year.

• The lifetime loan limit will be $200,000.

This $200,000 limit includes all graduate and professional borrowing combined, but:

• This new lifetime limit does not include loans borrowed during undergraduate study.

In addition to the limits listed above, there will be a new lifetime borrowing cap of $257,500. 

This lifetime cap:

• Includes all federal student loans borrowed for undergraduate, graduate, and professional study combined.

• Does not include PLUS loans.

• Includes loan amounts even if they have already been repaid, forgiven, or discharged.

This means the total amount you borrow over your lifetime will count toward this cap, even if you no longer owe the full amount.

Beginning with the 2026–2027 award year, if a student is enrolled less than full-time in an eligible program, their annual Federal Direct Loan limit will be reduced based on the number of credits they are taking compared to full-time enrollment.

The reduction:

• Is proportional to the student’s enrollment level
• Is based on the student’s enrollment status when the school determines loan eligibility at disbursement
• Is rounded to the nearest whole percent

In short:
If you are not enrolled full-time, you cannot borrow the full loan amount. Your annual loan amount is reduced based on how close you are to full-time enrollment.

These proportional loan adjustments apply to:

• All undergraduate, graduate, and professional student Direct Loan borrowers—Direct Subsidized Loans , Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and graduate PLUS Loans (for legacy borrowers).

• Parent PLUS Loans are not subject to these adjustments.

Full time enrollment for undergraduate students at LSUHSC is 12 hours per each semester.

An undergrad student is enrolled in:

• 7 credit hours in the fall
• 12 credit hours in the spring
• This equals 19 credit hours for the full academic year

Calculating the Reduction

• 19 (total year credit hours)/24 (full time) = 79%
• This means the student is enrolled at 79% of full-time status for the academic year

Apply that percentage to the annual loan limit

• For this example, this studsent is eligible for $7,500 if enrolled in full time for both semesters
• $7,500 x 79% = $5925 = new maximum loan amount the student is eligible for.
• The student's annual loan eligibility may be reduced equally or proportionally based on what is best for the student.

• Some existing repayment plans will end July 1, 2028 (ICR, PAYE, and SAVE).
• A new income based repayment plan (Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP) will be created. Payments under this plan will be determined based upon several factors:
  • payments may be as low as $10/month,
  • adjusted for dependents,
  • and possibly forgiven after 30 years of payments.
• A new standard repayment plan will be created. Payments under this plan will have 4 fixed terms of 10, 15, 20, or 25 years (based on the amount borrowed).

• Current Borrowers:
  • If no new loans are made on or after July 1, 2026, you are eligible to enroll in the current Standard, Graduated, Extended, or income based (IBR) repayment plan, or you may opt into the new RAP.
  • If you are currently enrolled in ICR, PAYE, or SAVE, you must transition to a different repayment plan by July 1, 2028, (either current income based repayment plan, current standard plan, or RAP). If no selection is made, you will be moved to RAP automatically.
  • It's important to note that all loans must be repaid under the same plan. So, borrowers with loans made before July 1, 2026, who take out additional loans on or after July 1, 2026, will only have RAP and the new standard plan to choose from.
• New Borrowers: For loans made on or after July 1, 2026, there will be two repayment plan options - the new standard repayment plan or RAP. If no selection is made, you will be assigned to the new standards payment plan.

A new standard repayment plan will be created. Payments under this plan will have 4 fixed terms of 10, 15, 20, or 25 years (based on the amount borrowed).

• Current Borrowers:
  • If no new loans are made on or after July 1, 2026, you are eligible to enroll in the current Standard, Graduated, Extended, or income based (IBR) repayment plan.
  • If you borrowed prior to July 1, 2026, AND subsequently borrow after July 1, 2026, repayment for all loans must be under the same payment plan which is the new standard payment plan.
• New Borrowers: For loans made on or after July 1, 2026, they can be repaid using only the new standard plan to choose from.

• Economic hardship deferment will no longer be available.
  Borrowers with loans made on or after July 1, 2027, will not be able to pause their payments due to financial hardship under the economic hardship deferment option.

• Unemployment deferment will no longer be available.
  Borrowers with loans made on or after July 1, 2027, will not be able to pause their payments due to unemployment under the unemployment deferment option.

• Forbearance will be limited.
  For loans made on or after July 1, 2027, you may only receive forbearance for a maximum of nine months within any two-year period.
  Forbearance allows you to temporarily pause or reduce your payments, but interest may continue to accrue during this time.

These changes apply only to federal student loans made on or after July 1, 2027.

If your loan was made before July 1, 2027, you will still have access to the current deferment options available under existing regulations.

• You can rehabilitate a defaulted federal student loan two times instead of just once
• Currently, borrowers are only allowed to rehabilitate a loan one time. Starting July 1, 2027, you will be allowed to complete the rehabilitation process twice if your loan goes into default more than once.
• The minimum monthly payment required during rehabilitation will increase from $5 to $10 dollars.
• If your calculated rehabilitation payment amount is very low, the minimum you will be required to pay each month will increase to $10.
• You must make nine on-time monthly payments within ten consecutive months. Missing a payment or paying late could restart the process.
• If you previously returned your loan to good standing through the Fresh Start initiative, that action does not count as using one of your rehabilitation opportunities.

• Vist the Federal Student Aid webpage for updates regarding OB3. 

• Vist the U.S. Congress webpage to read the full legislation. 

• Vist the U.S. Department of Education website for most recent press releases regarding OB3.