The U.S. Department of Education is providing conflicting information about the upcoming federal student loan borrowing limits that will take effect this summer, according to The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
A provision in President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” passed last year, established a new $257,500 lifetime borrowing cap for federal student loan borrowers as of July 1, 2026.
But the Education Department has made contradictory statements about whether certain loans taken out by graduate students — Grad PLUS loans — will count toward that new borrowing ceiling, NASFAA, a group representing college financial aid administrators, said in a statement this week.
“This approach is both irresponsible and unfair to students and financial aid professionals who are working in good faith to make informed decisions amid inconsistent and incomplete information,” said Melanie Storey, president and CEO of NASFAA, in a statement.
Ellen Keast, press secretary for higher education at the U.S. Department of Education, said the agency was in the final stages of its regulatory process on the new loan limits and would soon address these concerns.
