On April 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education released a final rule that will, among other things, implement the graduate and professional student loan limits that were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This final rule, which was subsequently published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2026, reflects the results of negotiated rulemaking sessions held in late 2025 by the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee. Under the new rule, professional students can borrow up to $50,000 annually and $200,000 aggregate for their graduate programs, while other graduate students can borrow up to $20,500 annually and $100,000 aggregate.

The final rule defines professional students using an enumerated list of 11 fields, including: pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, theology, and clinical psychology.

The final rule will also eliminate the Grad PLUS program, allow institutions to establish their own programmatic loan caps, and replace prior repayment plans with two options for repayment (the Tiered Standard Plan and the Repayment Assistance Plan) that will be available to borrowers in July. The final rule takes effect on July 1, 2026.

The U.S. Department of Education has published a fact sheet on this final rule that is available online.