What is H.R.1?

H.R.1 is a comprehensive budget reconciliation bill that includes large tax cuts and a reduction in public spending to offset the cuts. Part of the required spending reduction impacts Federal Student Financial Aid programs, including federal student loans. The major provisions impacting students’ ability to borrow federal student loans at OHSU are: 

• The phased elimination of the Federal Graduate PLUS loan program.
• New annual and lifetime limitations on student loan borrowing.
• New proration of loan eligibility for less than full-time enrollment.

Will returning graduate/professional students in 2026-27 be able to apply for a Federal Graduate PLUS loan in 2026-27?

It will depend. Generally, all enrolled graduate/professional students who borrowed a Federal Graduate PLUS loan or Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loan in 2025-26 for their current OHSU graduate/professional program, and who are otherwise eligible for a Federal Graduate PLUS loan, may apply for one in 2026-27. Moreover, these students may continue to apply for a Federal Graduate PLUS loan through the 2028-29 academic year or the rest of the Expected Time to Graduation for their program, whichever comes first. However, actual individual student eligibility for Federal Graduate PLUS loans will depend on the number of credits attempted and completed in a term and how much of the program’s Expected Time to Graduation has past (see below questions on Expected Time to Graduation and taking a term off).

Please note, starting in 2026-27, all federal loans for students attending less than full-time will be prorated based on students’ enrollment for a term (number of credits attempted and completed in a term) see the question below on restrictions on loan borrowing for students attending less than full-time.

Will new graduate/professional students in 2026-27 be able to apply for a Federal Graduate PLUS loan in 2026-27?

It will depend. The elimination of the Federal Graduate PLUS loan for new graduate/professional students takes effect on July 1, 2026. New graduate/professional students who want to borrow a Federal Graduate PLUS loan must: 

1. Start their OHSU graduate/professional program in Summer A 2026 on either June 22, 2026 (for School of Public Health only) or June 29, 2026, and
2. Enroll at least half-time, and
3. Complete all the eligibility requirements for the Federal Graduate PLUS loan, and
4. Have the Federal Direct Loan disbursed for their OHSU graduate/professional program prior to July 1, 2026. 

If new graduate/professional students meet the above criteria they may continue to apply for a Federal Graduate PLUS loan through the 2028-29 academic year or the rest of the Expected Time to Graduation for their program, whichever comes first (see below question on Expected Time to Graduation).

Actual continued individual student eligibility for Federal Graduate PLUS loans will depend on the number of credits attempted and completed in a term and how much of the program’s Expected Time to Graduation has past (see below questions on Expected Time to Graduation, enrolling less than full time, and taking a term off).

What does ‘Expected Time to Graduation’ mean?

The Expected Time to Graduation is the minimum amount of time it will take a full-time student to complete the graduation requirements for their program. For example, the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree takes seven terms for a full-time student to complete. That means eligible students in the MPH program will retain access to the Federal Graduate PLUS loan for up to a maximum of seven terms, including past terms in the program. 

The exact number of terms a returning graduate/professional student will retain access to the Federal Graduate PLUS loan will be determined by taking the total number of terms in the Expected Time to Graduation for the program and subtracting the number of terms that have elapsed since the student started the program. 

If a returning graduate/professional student has attended less than full-time during their program or taken a term off, they will likely lose access to the Federal Graduate PLUS loan prior to completing their program. OHSU will communicate directly with students who are expected to lose their eligibility for the Federal Graduate PLUS loan prior to graduation. 

What happens to a graduate/professional student who is eligible for the Federal Graduate PLUS loan but takes a term off?

If a graduate/professional student does not attend a term, they will likely lose access to the Federal Graduate PLUS loan and other legacy loan provisions for the remainder of their program. 

Graduate/professional students who are in programs that require attendance in the Summer, must attend every term of the academic year (Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring) or risk losing eligibility for the Graduate PLUS loan for the remainder of their program. Graduate/professional students who are in programs that do not require attendance in the Summer term, must attend Fall, Winter and Spring and may be allowed to retain access to Graduate PLUS loans and other legacy provisions if they do not attend Summer term. The U.S. Department of Education has not provided guidance on whether students in programs that do not require Summer attendance will be required to attend in the Summer term in order to retain access to the Graduate PLUS loan. The U.S. Department of Education should provide guidance on this topic soon.

Can grad/professional students on approved leave of absence retain access to the Grad PLUS loan & other legacy loan provisions?

Unlikely. To retain access to the Federal Graduate PLUS loan and other legacy loan provisions, a leave of absence (LOA) must meet two conditions:

• The leave must be less than 180 days. Many of OHSU’s programs are structured in ‘lockstep’ cohorts that begin once per year, which means many LOAs must be longer than 180-days.
• If a graduate/professional student takes a LOA prior to completing all their courses in a term, they must return to the exact place they were at in the term in the exact same courses as when they left. This includes having the exact same instructors and meeting times. However, this requirement is nearly impossible for credit-based schools like OHSU to meet.

What happens if a student who is eligible for the Graduate PLUS loan is unable to complete their program by the end of 2028-29?

The Federal Graduate PLUS loan will be eliminated at the end of the 2028-29 academic year, regardless of whether graduate/professional students have completed their program by then and regardless of whether a program’s Expected Time to Graduation has expired. Effective Summer 2029, no graduate/professional student will be allowed to borrow in the Federal Graduate PLUS loan, and all students will be subject to the new Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loan provisions.  

How do these new rules impact students in OHSU dual degree programs?

It is unclear at this point. OHSU is waiting for additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Education. However, it is important to understand that the 2028-29 academic year is the last year that any student can borrow in the Federal Graduate PLUS loan. The new annual and aggregate loan limits on federal student loans will apply to all students in the 2029-30 academic year (starting Summer 2029) and beyond. OHSU will update this FAQ when more information on dual degree programs is available.

Are there new limitations on borrowing for students attending less than full-time?

Yes. Any student borrowing federal loans in the 2026-27 academic year and beyond who is attending less than full-time in a term (12 credit hours for Bachelor of Science students and 9 credit hours for graduate/professional students) will have their federal student loans prorated.

The loan reduction will be based on the ratio between the number of credits the student has/will complete, divided by the number of credits required for full-time. 

Please note, all students will be subject to the new loan proration for the 2026-27 academic year and beyond, even students who remain eligible for the Federal Graduate PLUS loan and other legacy loan provisions The specific formula for reduction has not been officially published. OHSU will update this FAQ when more information is available.

What are the changes to Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loan eligibility for graduate/professional students?

The Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loan is not being eliminated, however new annual and lifetime loan limits will apply (see next question). Generally, new and returning graduate/professional students who have received a Federal Direct Loan for their current OHSU graduate/professional program prior to July 1, 2026, and who are otherwise eligible, may continue to apply for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loans at the legacy borrowing limits through the 2028-29 academic year or the remainder of the Expected Time to Graduation for their program, whichever comes first. However, actual individual student eligibility will depend on student enrollment (see the question above that discusses students attending less than full-time) and the term the student began their current graduate/professional program of study at OHSU (see the Expected Time to Graduation question above). All new graduate/professional students starting Fall 2026 or later will be held to the new annual and lifetime loan limits (see below question). 

What are the other borrowing restrictions for federal student loans?

In addition to the phased-out elimination of Federal Graduate PLUS loans, there will be new annual and lifetime limits on graduate/professional students who take out their first Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loan for their OHSU program after July 1, 2026. These new limits will also apply to all graduate/professional students after the 2028-29 academic year, after the remainder of the Expected Time to Graduation for their program has expired, or after a student no longer remains eligible for the Graduate PLUS loan, whichever comes first. 

There are four major changes for students in graduate/professional programs:

• For graduate programs, the maximum annual eligibility will be $20,500 per year with a $100,000 lifetime limit. 

• For professional programs (Pharm.D., M.D., D.M.D., PhD in Clinical Psychology) the maximum annual eligibility will be $50,000 per year, with a lifetime limit of $200,000. 

• There are new aggregated total lifetime limits for all federal student loan borrowers. That new maximum is $257,500 from all U.S. Department of Education loans. That includes all federal undergraduate borrowing and dollars borrowed for graduate/professional programs. For example, a student in a professional program who has borrowed $150,000 to pay for their prior undergraduate and graduate programs, will only have $107,500 in lifetime eligibility remaining. 

• Students will no longer be able to regain eligibility by repaying their loan balances and borrowing again.

How do students know if they are in a professional or graduate program?

The U.S. Department of Education has provided a finite list of programs that are classified as professional for the purposes of federal loan eligibility. The U.S. Department of Education has authorized only four OHSU programs as professional, the programs are: M.D.; D.M.D.; Pharm.D.; and the PhD in Clinical Psychology.

How do students know if they have already borrowed a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loan or a Federal Graduate PLUS loan?

Students can review their loan portfolio by: 

1. Logging into StudentAid.gov 

2. Navigate to “My Aid.” 

3. Students will see Loan Types which will tell students if they have a federal direct loan and/or a Graduate PLUS loan. 

What is OHSU doing to address the elimination of the Federal Graduate PLUS loan program

OHSU is exploring multiple long-term options for our students. OHSU’s first mitigation strategy is to move as many graduate/professional programs as possible to start at the beginning of the Summer A 2026 term. This will allow the possibility for eligible incoming graduate/professional students in Summer A 2026 only to gain access to the Federal Graduate PLUS loan and other legacy loan provisions for up to a maximum of three academic years, with limitations (see previous answers).

The second strategy is to create a Preferred Lender List for private student loans. This rigorously researched list of lenders will feature private loans that have been identified by OHSU as having the best loan terms for OHSU students for the 2026-27 year. Students are free to use any private lender they wish and will not be required to use the lenders on the Preferred Lender List.

Please know the university continues to actively explore other options. We will update this FAQ when more information is available.