Effective July 1, 2026 · One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21)How the new caps work
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Grad School Funding Gap Calculator (2026)

Federal loans for graduate and professional students are now capped, not open-ended. Find out how much of your cost of attendance the new federal limits actually cover — and the size of the gap you'll need to fill another way.

Caps verified against NASFAA & Federal Student AidUpdated for the 2026-27 award yearFree · no sign-up

Estimate your funding gap

Source: Federal Student Aid — loan limits & program list
$
From your school's official award letter or net price estimate: tuition, fees, housing, books, living costs.
$
Scholarships, assistantships, employer tuition help, and savings you'll put toward each year.
Used to check your total loans against the lifetime cap.
Your funding gap
–
Federal loans cover the rest
Cost of attendance–
Other aid–
Net need–
Federal loans cover (annual cap)–
Your gap per year–

Over your full program

Program duration–
Total funding gap–

Why grad students now have a funding gap

Before July 1, 2026, graduate and professional students could borrow federal Grad PLUS loans up to their full cost of attendance — tuition, fees, housing, everything. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21) eliminated Grad PLUS for new borrowers and replaced open-ended borrowing with fixed annual and lifetime caps, for the first time in the program's history.

New federal loan caps by program type (2026-27 award year)

Program typeAnnual capLifetime cap
Graduate (master's, PhD, most programs)$20,500$100,000
Professional (medicine, law, dentistry & other designated fields)$50,000$200,000

If your cost of attendance minus other aid is higher than your annual cap, the difference is your funding gap — money you'll need to find from private loans, savings, assistantships, or your employer, since the federal government will no longer lend you the rest.

Example. A professional-program student with $75,000 cost of attendance and $10,000 in other aid has a net need of $65,000. Federal loans now cover only the $50,000 annual cap, leaving a $15,000/year gap — about $60,000 over a 4-year program.
Which programs count as "professional"?This is currently unsettled. The Department of Education's original April 2026 rule listed 11 professional-degree fields (medicine, law, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, chiropractic, pharmacy, theology, clinical psychology). A federal judge stayed that rule on procedural grounds in late June 2026, and ED issued a temporary, expanded interim list of 29 programs that adds several health fields — including nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy, occupational therapy, nurse anesthetist, and speech pathology programs — while dropping theology and pharmaceutical studies from that specific list. ED has said some schools may still apply the lower graduate cap regardless during the litigation, so identical programs can be treated differently at different universities. Confirm your program's current classification with your financial aid office before assuming which cap applies to you.
Legacy protectionIf you were already enrolled in your program before July 1, 2026, and had already received at least one loan for it, you can generally keep borrowing under the old rules — including Grad PLUS up to your full cost of attendance — for up to three years or until you finish the program, whichever comes first.

Closing the gap

Since federal loans no longer stretch to cover full cost of attendance for most new borrowers, students facing a funding gap typically combine several of these:

This calculator is neutral and does not recommend or link to any specific lender.

How this calculator works

The tool subtracts your entered "other aid" from your cost of attendance to get your net need, then compares that to the statutory annual federal loan cap for your selected program type ($20,500 graduate / $50,000 professional). Any net need above the annual cap is your funding gap for that year, multiplied by your program length for the total. If you mark yourself as a legacy borrower (enrolled and already borrowing before July 1, 2026), the calculator assumes your federal loans still cover your full net need under the old rules and shows a $0 gap, since legacy borrowers keep pre-reform access to Grad PLUS for up to three years. The tool also checks whether your total borrowing at the annual cap over your program length would exceed the $100,000/$200,000 lifetime cap and warns you if so. This is a simplified estimate, not financial advice — your school's financial aid office has your authoritative figures.

Sources
  1. NASFAA — Federal Student Aid Changes Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: $20,500/$100,000 graduate and $50,000/$200,000 professional caps
  2. The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) — Federal Student Loan Amounts and Terms for Loans Issued in 2026-27
  3. Federal Student Aid Partners — Update to List of Professional Degree Programs Due to Court Order (29.06.2026, interim 29-program list)
  4. Forbes — After Court Loss, Education Department Raises Loan Limit For More Programs (01.07.2026)
  5. StudentAid.gov — Grad PLUS Loan information and elimination for new borrowers

Frequently asked questions

How much can graduate students borrow after July 1, 2026?

Graduate students can borrow up to $20,500 a year in federal Direct Loans, with a $100,000 lifetime cap. Professional students (a currently-disputed list of programs) can borrow up to $50,000 a year, with a $200,000 lifetime cap. Previously, graduate borrowers could take Grad PLUS loans up to their full cost of attendance.

What happened to Grad PLUS loans?

Grad PLUS was eliminated for new borrowers starting July 1, 2026. New graduate and professional borrowers can no longer borrow their full cost of attendance from the federal government and are now subject to the fixed annual and lifetime caps above.

Am I grandfathered under the old limits?

If you were enrolled in your program before July 1, 2026, already received a loan for it, and remain continuously enrolled, you can generally keep the old rules — including Grad PLUS to cost of attendance — for up to three years or until your program ends.

How do I cover the gap between my aid and cost of attendance?

Common options include private graduate loans, assistantships and fellowships, employer tuition assistance, and university payment plans. Compare terms carefully — private loans lack federal protections like income-driven repayment and forgiveness.

Disclaimer. This calculator provides a simplified estimate of the federal loan funding gap for graduate and professional students and is not financial or legal advice. Professional-degree program classification is subject to ongoing federal litigation as of July 2026 and may change; confirm your program's current classification and your official aid figures with your school's financial aid office or StudentAid.gov.