Graduate Aid
On July 4, President Trump signed the reconciliation bill which contains many changes to federal financial aid programs that are set to go into place on July 1, 2026. Some of the changes in the bill include:
Elimination of the GRAD PLUS loan for graduate students.
New Parent PLUS Loan Limits: $20,000 per year per dependent student and a $65,000 aggregate limit per dependent student (without regard to amounts forgiven, repaid, canceled, or discharged).
New Graduate Loan limits: an annual limit of $20,500 for graduate students and $50,000 for professional students. The lifetime borrowing limit is capped at $100,000 for graduate students and $200,000 for professional students (classifications TBD).
Repayment Plan options for New Borrowers: Borrowers with new loans made on or after July 1, 2026, can be repaid using only two plans: a new standard repayment plan with fixed monthly payments and fixed terms ranging from 10 to 25 years based on the amount borrowed and a new income-based repayment plan, known as RAP.
Based on current information from the U.S. Department of Education, federal loan programs and borrowing rules remain unchanged for the 2025-2026 academic year.
The University Financial Aid Office continues to review the bill’s contents and will provide additional guidance as we learn more from the Department of Education.
Financing your University of Chicago education, complicated as it may seem at first, is a matter of straightforward choices. In Graduate Financial Aid, we focus on counseling graduate students as they navigate these choices in order to best finance their education. We strive to educate both prospective and current graduate students on responsible borrowing and help them make the best decision for their situation given the funds available to them. Our mission is to ensure that UChicago graduate students understand the financial aid process when they are in school and are aware of their responsibilities as loan borrowers when their time at the University has been completed.
The Graduate Financial Aid Office serves the financial aid needs of the following academic divisions:
Crown Family School of Social Work,
Policy and Practice
Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies
Harris School of Public Policy