In recent weeks, the term “loan limits” has been used mainly to refer to the new, highly contested caps on how much graduate students can borrow. But the cap on master’s degree spending isn’t the only loan limit taking effect this fall.
Under the same set of regulations, the Education Department now requires colleges to base the amount of federal funding they give a student on the number of credit hours they’re enrolled in—no matter what degree the student pursues.
So if a college says undergraduates pursuing a bachelor of science must enroll in 24 credit hours over the course of a year to be considered full-time, then an eligible freshman must meet that standard to receive the full $5,500 they are entitled to. And if that same student changes pace midway through the year—say, by dropping one or more classes—the value of the loan would decrease proportionally. After that, the retracted loan dollars would be sent back to the government and the student would be responsible for paying any remaining balance.
Judge Orders Iowa State to Pay Former Professor $2.8M
New Options Emerge for Howard Students
