{"id":217623,"date":"2026-05-28T10:14:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T14:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/?p=217623"},"modified":"2026-05-28T10:14:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T14:14:00","slug":"important-news-about-federal-student-loans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/2026\/05\/28\/important-news-about-federal-student-loans\/","title":{"rendered":"Important News about Federal Student Loans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The recently enacted <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/red-hawk-central\/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-obbba\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/red-hawk-central\/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-obbba\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1780063364746000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2E7TghVhQwNx4F5YhaRMtw\"><strong>One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>(OBBBA) brings several changes that may affect you, including how loan amounts are calculated based on your enrollment, updates to borrowing limits, and new rules for graduate student loans.<\/p>\n<h2>What\u2019s Changing?<\/h2>\n<p>Under the new rules, your federal loan eligibility will be more closely tied to how many credits you&#8217;re taking. If you&#8217;re enrolled less than full-time in courses that count toward your degree, your loan amount will be reduced to match.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Full-time enrollment is defined as:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Undergraduate:<\/strong>\u00a012 credit hours per semester<\/li>\n<li><strong>Graduate:<\/strong>\u00a06 credit hours per semester<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>What This Means for You<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>If you enroll in fewer credits, your loan eligibility may be reduced (prorated).<\/li>\n<li>Changes in enrollment can impact your total financial aid eligibility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Keep In Mind:\u00a0<\/strong>You must be enrolled at least half-time to be eligible for federal loan funding.<\/p>\n<h3>Enrollment Changes Matter<\/h3>\n<p>Any changes to your enrollment (dropping a course, withdrawing, or going part-time) could:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Trigger a recalculation of your loan<\/li>\n<li>Reduce future disbursements<\/li>\n<li>Result in an unexpected balance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Parent PLUS Loan Changes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>New borrowing limits will apply to the Parent PLUS loan\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>$20,000 per student, per year<\/li>\n<li>Lifetime borrowing up to $65,000 per student<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>Parents may continue borrowing the Parent PLUS Loan under pre-OBBBA rules only if all of the following apply:\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>You were enrolled in your program at Montclair as of June 30, 2026, and<\/li>\n<li>You received at least one federal loan disbursement for that same program before July 1, 2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>If eligible under this Legacy\/Exception Provision:<\/strong>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>The Parent may continue borrowing the Parent PLUS Loan under pre-OBBBA rules for:\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Up to 3 academic years, or<\/li>\n<li>The remainder of your expected time to degree completion,<\/li>\n<li>Whichever is shorter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>Any interruption to your enrollment at Montclair will end the legacy\/exception status and you will be subject to the new rules.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Graduate PLUS (Grad PLUS) Loans Eliminated<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Grad PLUS loan will be discontinued as of July 1, 2026.<\/li>\n<li>You may continue borrowing Grad PLUS Loans under pre-OBBBA rules only if all of the following apply:\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>You were enrolled in your program at Montclair as of June 30, 2026, and<\/li>\n<li>You received at least one federal loan disbursement for that same program before July 1, 2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>If eligible under this Legacy\/Exception Provision:<\/strong>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>You may continue borrowing Grad PLUS Loans for:<\/li>\n<li>Up to 3 academic years, or<\/li>\n<li>the remainder of your expected time to degree completion,<\/li>\n<li>Whichever is shorter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>Any interruption to your enrollment at Montclair will end your legacy\/exception status and you will be subject to the new rules.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>What This Means for You<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>If you have never borrowed a federal loan for your current program at Montclair before July 1, 2026, you will not be eligible for the Grad PLUS loan moving forward.<\/li>\n<li>If you meet the legacy\/exception criteria, your eligibility will be limited in duration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Here&#8217;s What We Recommend<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Review your financial aid award carefully each semester.<\/li>\n<li>Enroll in all of the credits you plan to take before the end of add\/drop.<\/li>\n<li>Families may need to\u00a0<strong>plan for additional resources<\/strong>\u00a0to cover any remaining balance, such as:\n<ul>\n<li>Payment plans<\/li>\n<li>Savings or current income<\/li>\n<li>Private education loans<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Learn More:\u00a0<\/strong>Visit our\u00a0<a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/red-hawk-central\/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-obbba\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/red-hawk-central\/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-obbba\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1780063364747000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2hzMYCQEAbncABoU5OQB6n\"><strong>One Big Beautiful Bill Act web page<\/strong><\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your federal student loans may look a little different starting with the 2026\u20132027 aid year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":217624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,31,36,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-217623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic","category-announcements","category-red-hawk-central","category-red-hawk-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217623"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":217625,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217623\/revisions\/217625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/student-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}