Affordability
Over the Cap: graduate programs where the typical borrower owed more than federal loans now allow
Since July 1, 2026, a new graduate student can borrow at most $100,000 in federal loans, or $200,000 for a professional degree, and Grad PLUS is gone. At 384 of 8,799 graduate and professional programs with federal debt data, the typical borrower from an earlier class owed more than that.
Data period: College Scorecard field of study, June 2026 release: median federal debt of 2018-19 and 2019-20 graduates; loan limits for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026.
By CampusPin Research · Published September 28, 2026
Executive summary
For loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, federal law caps graduate students at $20,500 a year and $100,000 in total, and professional students at $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total. Grad PLUS, which let graduate students borrow up to the full cost of attendance, is closed to new borrowers, and no one may borrow more than $257,500 in federal student loans over a lifetime.
Set those caps against what graduates actually borrowed. Of the 8,799 graduate and professional programs with federal debt data, 384 (4.4%) had a median federal debt at graduation above the aggregate cap that now applies to new students in that program. 246 of them (64%) are in the health professions. Even at the higher $200,000 professional cap, the typical borrower owed more at 51 of 61 dentistry programs and 73 of 160 medical programs.
Who counts as "professional" is being decided in court. These counts use the list the Education Department applies under a federal court's preliminary stay (checked September 28, 2026). If the Department's own 11-field definition returns, the count rises to 693, mostly physician assistant, physical and occupational therapy, and nursing programs. These medians describe earlier borrowers under the old, uncapped rules, not what a new student will owe: they show how much financing beyond federal loans the typical past borrower would have needed.
Key findings
- The new aggregate limits: $100,000 for graduate students and $200,000 for professional students (annual limits $20,500 and $50,000), Grad PLUS closed to new borrowers, and a $257,500 lifetime maximum, for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026.
- At 384 of 8,799 graduate and professional programs with federal debt data (4.4%), the median federal debt at graduation of 2018-19 and 2019-20 borrowers exceeded the cap that now applies to that program. At least 17,000 of those borrowers owed more than the cap (a lower bound).
- By credential: 100 of 7,171 master's programs, 104 of 727 doctoral programs, 156 of 653 first-professional programs and 24 of 248 graduate certificates.
- Even at $200,000: the typical borrower owed more at 51 of 61 dentistry programs (median debt at those programs $282,467) and 73 of 160 medical programs; at 4 of 195 law schools.
- The court fight over "professional degree" moves 309 programs: 384 are over the cap under the list in force now, 693 under the Department's 11-field definition. The difference is physician assistant and athletic training (125), physical and occupational therapy (109), nursing (49), audiology and speech-language pathology (17) and anesthesiologist assistant (9) programs.
- By sector: 1 in 9 for-profit programs (44 of 407), 1 in 15 private nonprofit programs (265 of 4,080) and 1 in 57 public programs (75 of 4,312) are over the cap. Sector differences reflect which programs each sector offers and at what price.
- Context: at the programs over the cap, the typical median debt was $210,341; graduates' typical earnings were $73,835 one year out (the same graduates, measured 2020-21) and $120,223 four years out (an earlier class, measured 2022-23).
- By state, the most programs over the cap are in California (85 of 727), New York (44 of 701), Florida (20 of 390), Minnesota (20 of 267). State is where the institution is, not where graduates live.
- Medicine: 73
- Dentistry: 51
- Pharmacy: 36
- Optometry: 8
- Clinical psychology: 8
- Chiropractic: 6
- Veterinary medicine: 6
- Law: 4
One row per state: graduate and professional programs with federal debt data, and how many had a median debt above the new federal cap under the professional-degree list in force now and under the Department's 11-field definition. Shares are blank for states with fewer than 30 programs.
| State | Graduate programs with debt data | Over the cap (list in force now) | Share (list in force now) | Over the cap (11-field definition) | Share (11-field definition) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 146 | 3 | 2.1% | 6 | 4.1% |
| Alaska | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Arizona | 148 | 2 | 1.4% | 3 | 2.0% |
| Arkansas | 80 | 1 | 1.3% | 3 | 3.8% |
| California | 727 | 85 | 11.7% | 115 | 15.8% |
| Colorado | 166 | 9 | 5.4% | 11 | 6.6% |
| Connecticut | 124 | 3 | 2.4% | 10 | 8.1% |
| Delaware | 19 | 0 | 0 | ||
| District of Columbia | 132 | 7 | 5.3% | 10 | 7.6% |
| Florida | 390 | 20 | 5.1% | 34 | 8.7% |
| Georgia | 253 | 3 | 1.2% | 10 | 4.0% |
| Hawaii | 17 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Idaho | 32 | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 3.1% |
| Illinois | 380 | 18 | 4.7% | 34 | 8.9% |
| Indiana | 188 | 5 | 2.7% | 11 | 5.9% |
| Iowa | 84 | 3 | 3.6% | 10 | 11.9% |
| Kansas | 92 | 2 | 2.2% | 4 | 4.3% |
| Kentucky | 139 | 6 | 4.3% | 9 | 6.5% |
| Louisiana | 119 | 3 | 2.5% | 6 | 5.0% |
| Maine | 38 | 2 | 5.3% | 6 | 15.8% |
| Maryland | 130 | 2 | 1.5% | 4 | 3.1% |
| Massachusetts | 297 | 10 | 3.4% | 20 | 6.7% |
| Michigan | 246 | 12 | 4.9% | 19 | 7.7% |
| Minnesota | 267 | 20 | 7.5% | 23 | 8.6% |
| Mississippi | 73 | 1 | 1.4% | 3 | 4.1% |
| Missouri | 235 | 7 | 3.0% | 17 | 7.2% |
| Montana | 20 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Nebraska | 88 | 4 | 4.5% | 7 | 8.0% |
| Nevada | 26 | 3 | 3 | ||
| New Hampshire | 45 | 1 | 2.2% | 3 | 6.7% |
| New Jersey | 169 | 2 | 1.2% | 3 | 1.8% |
| New Mexico | 42 | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| New York | 701 | 44 | 6.3% | 74 | 10.6% |
| North Carolina | 270 | 7 | 2.6% | 24 | 8.9% |
| North Dakota | 28 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ohio | 300 | 7 | 2.3% | 23 | 7.7% |
| Oklahoma | 87 | 1 | 1.1% | 3 | 3.4% |
| Oregon | 98 | 9 | 9.2% | 14 | 14.3% |
| Pennsylvania | 415 | 17 | 4.1% | 35 | 8.4% |
| Puerto Rico | 97 | 2 | 2.1% | 2 | 2.1% |
| Rhode Island | 32 | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 3.1% |
| South Carolina | 99 | 6 | 6.1% | 13 | 13.1% |
| South Dakota | 20 | 0 | 3 | ||
| Tennessee | 214 | 9 | 4.2% | 19 | 8.9% |
| Texas | 556 | 4 | 0.7% | 12 | 2.2% |
| Utah | 74 | 1 | 1.4% | 6 | 8.1% |
| Vermont | 33 | 1 | 3.0% | 2 | 6.1% |
| Virginia | 253 | 6 | 2.4% | 16 | 6.3% |
| Washington | 137 | 7 | 5.1% | 12 | 8.8% |
| West Virginia | 82 | 2 | 2.4% | 5 | 6.1% |
| Wisconsin | 127 | 2 | 1.6% | 4 | 3.1% |
| Wyoming | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Questions families ask
- What are the new federal loan limits for graduate students?
- For loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026: $20,500 a year and $100,000 in total for graduate students, and $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total for professional students. Grad PLUS is closed to new borrowers, and total federal student borrowing is capped at $257,500 over a lifetime. Students enrolled and borrowing before July 1, 2026 keep the old limits for up to three academic years.
- Which degrees count as "professional" for the $200,000 limit?
- While a federal court stays part of the Department's definition, it treats as professional medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, optometry, podiatry, chiropractic, law, divinity and rabbinical studies, clinical and several other doctoral psychology programs, audiology, speech-language pathology, physician assistant, athletic training, anesthesiologist assistant, occupational and physical therapy, and MSN, nurse anesthetist and DNP nursing programs (GENERAL-26-42). The Department calls the list interim. Its own rule names 11 fields. Checked September 28, 2026.
- How many graduate programs had typical debt above the new caps?
- 384 of 8,799 graduate and professional programs with federal debt data (4.4%), under the professional-degree list in force now, or 693 (7.9%) under the Department's 11-field definition. The debt figures are for 2018-19 and 2019-20 borrowers, who borrowed before the caps.
- Can students still enroll in programs where typical debt was above the cap?
- Yes. Being over the cap means the typical past borrower owed more than federal loans now cover, so a new student may need private loans, school aid, work or savings for the rest. Current students who were enrolled and borrowing before July 1, 2026 keep the old limits for up to three academic years.
- Which fields are most affected by the graduate loan caps?
- The health professions: 246 of the 384 programs over the cap (64%). Even at the $200,000 professional limit, the typical borrower owed more at 51 of 61 dentistry programs and 73 of 160 medical programs, against 4 of 195 law schools. If the 11-field definition returns, physician assistant and physical and occupational therapy programs add most of the increase.
Methodology
Loan limits are from the Federal Student Aid Loan Limits FAQ (May 20, 2026, p. 20) and 20 U.S.C. 1087e as amended in July 2025. Professional status uses the interim list in FSA electronic announcement GENERAL-26-42 (June 29, 2026, updated July 10, 2026), which the Department applies while the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stays part of its definition; the alternative is the 11-field definition in 34 CFR 685.102(b). Both were last checked on September 28, 2026.
Debt is College Scorecard's median federal loan debt at completion (Stafford and Grad PLUS, not Parent PLUS), among borrowers, for 2018-19 and 2019-20 graduates, in nominal dollars, from the field-of-study file released June 10, 2026. A program is one institution (six-digit OPEID) x 4-digit federal (CIP) field x credential level, which is the Department's own unit for a graduate "program of study"; branch-campus rows repeating the same figure are counted once. 8,799 of 61,356 graduate programs report a median debt; the rest are suppressed for privacy.
A program is "over the cap" when its median debt is above the aggregate limit for that program: $200,000 where it is professional, $100,000 otherwise. Scorecard reports 4-digit fields, so each 6-digit designation on the interim list is applied to its 4-digit family at the credential levels that award the listed degree; where a family mixes listed and unlisted degrees, the interim-list count treats it as professional, so the true count under today's list lies between 384 and 693.
The lower bound on borrowers counts, in each over-cap program that reports a borrower count, half of its borrowers rounded up (a median above the cap means at least half owed more). Earnings medians use programs with at least 30 graduates measured.
Every figure is computed by scripts/build-grad-loan-caps-report.mjs from the federal file; none is typed by hand. The headline figures were reproduced by two further independent computations.
Limitations
- This report is descriptive: it is not a ranking of programs and not a judgment of any program or institution. No program is named.
- The medians describe earlier borrowers, who could use Grad PLUS up to the cost of attendance. They are not a forecast of what new students will owe, and being over the cap does not mean students cannot enroll: it means the typical past borrower would have needed private loans, school aid or family money for the rest.
- Students enrolled and borrowing for a program before July 1, 2026 keep the old limits for up to three academic years, so the caps reach most current students later.
- The aggregate test is a floor. Annual limits, earlier graduate borrowing (which counts toward the caps) and the lifetime maximum can bind sooner, and schools may set lower limits. Debt is nominal and not adjusted for inflation; the caps are fixed dollar amounts.
- Professional status is in litigation and the Department calls its list interim. If it changes, the counts change; the 693 figure shows the other definition.
- Debt is among borrowers only and for loans taken at that institution. Medical earnings one and four years out are mostly resident salaries, not a physician's pay.
- Nothing here is a federal accountability result.
For journalists
New federal limits cap graduate borrowing at $100,000 ($200,000 for professional degrees) and end Grad PLUS for new borrowers. CampusPin compared them with College Scorecard debt data for 8,799 graduate and professional programs: at 384 (4.4%), the typical 2018-19 and 2019-20 borrower owed more than a new student can now borrow federally, including 51 of 61 dental schools and 73 of 160 medical programs. If a court's stay on the Department's "professional degree" definition ends, the count rises to 693, led by physician assistant and therapy programs. The medians describe earlier borrowers under the old rules; no program is named.
Free to cite with attribution to CampusPin and a link to this page; the state table downloads as CSV. Please carry: (1) the medians describe 2018-19 and 2019-20 borrowers under the old, uncapped rules, not what new students will owe; (2) professional status is in litigation and the counts use the Department's interim list as checked on September 28, 2026; (3) over the cap does not mean students cannot enroll. Contact: [email protected].
Sources, methodology & citation
Sources used across this page
Not every source informs every figure. Each data point draws on the source appropriate to it see the relevant section and the data dictionary for field-level provenance.
Federal Student Aid, Loan Limits FAQ (May 2026)
The Department of Education’s published Direct Loan and Parent PLUS limits for loans first disbursed on or after 1 July 2026.
The programs the Department treats as professional (and so eligible for the $200,000 limit) while a federal court stays part of its definition. The Department calls them interim designations that may change as the litigation proceeds.
Program-level median earnings one and four years after completing, and median federal loan debt at completion, by institution, 4-digit CIP field and credential level.
College Scorecard, Field of Study data documentation
How the field-of-study cohorts are built, which graduates are counted, and how small cells are suppressed and perturbed for privacy.
IPEDS / NCES College Navigator
Federal enrollment, admissions, tuition, retention, and program data. Released annually with a 1–2 year lag.
Where a value is unavailable it is shown as unavailable, never as 0, free, or a negative judgment. Always confirm final details with the institution before applying.
Suggested citation
CampusPin. (2026). Over the Cap: graduate programs where the typical borrower owed more than federal loans now allow. Retrieved from https://campuspin.com/research/graduate-programs-over-the-federal-loan-cap
More in Affordability & price
Published College Tuition by State & Sector
Typical published (sticker) tuition across CampusPin's 3,798 U.S. colleges: median public-university tuition is $8,994 in-state and $18,706 out-of-state, private universities $23,664, and public community colleges $4,288, broken down for every state.
What college actually costs by family income
Across 2,453 institutions in CampusPin's dataset reporting the full federal net-price series, the median institution charges families earning under $30,000 $12,475 and families earning $110,000 or more $22,070. Figures are medians across institutions, not weighted by enrollment.
The Borrowing Gap: where college costs more than a family can borrow
A first-year dependent student and their parents can borrow at most $25,500 from the federal government for 2026-27. At 241 of 2,441 colleges reporting federal net-price data, the average price after grants exceeds that even for families earning under $30,000.