Already facing a student loan 'financial reckoning,' Trump's changes to graduate students loans could make Gen Z's diplomas a pricier gamble | Fortune

"Beginning summer 2026, new federal borrowers will be capped: Graduate students can borrow $20,500 per year ($100,000 lifetime maximum). Professional students (e.g. law, medical and dental school) can borrow $50,000 per year ($200,000 lifetime maximum). A separate lifetime limit of $257,500 will be applied to all student loans (excluding Parent PLUS loans borrowed on a students' behalf. Parent loans have a new lifetime cap of $65,000)."

"That Grad PLUS shortfall hits a relatively small share of students but an outsized share of dollars. Only about 16% of graduate students have relied on Grad PLUS loans, but the program accounted for 32% of federal-loan disbursements, according to a report from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workplace. The reason: Those who tapped it were often enrolled in the most expensive programs."

"Young professionals are facing a perfect storm of financial burdens: student debt, stagnant wages, and a shaky job market. Now, sweeping changes signed into law by President Donald Trump threaten to make graduate degrees-a traditional path to higher earnings and stability-an even riskier bet. At the center of the overhaul enshrined in the One Big Beautiful Bill is the phaseout of the federal Grad PLUS loan program, which for two decades allowed graduates to borrow up to the full cost of attendance."

Young professionals face student debt, stagnant wages, and a shaky job market that raise financial risk. The law phases out the federal Grad PLUS loan and limits borrowing from summer 2026: graduate students $20,500 per year ($100,000 lifetime); professional students $50,000 per year ($200,000 lifetime); and a $257,500 aggregate lifetime cap on student loans, with Parent PLUS capped at $65,000. Average master's and medical school costs far exceed these caps, creating funding shortfalls. Grad PLUS accounted for a large share of disbursements to expensive programs. The Department of Education says the rules prevent insurmountable debt; advocates warn of riskier financing and narrowed access for low-income and first-generation students.

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