TISLA
in the News

WFMY News 2

For people that are borrowing for the first time. Two thing have change, the amount you can borrow especially if you are a graduate student or in medical or law school. If you are graduate student it’s only $20,500 a year, and if you’re in a medical or a law school program it’s $50,000 per year. Also, the amount of payment programs available once you’re out of school are significantly reduced.
There’s an additional step in my mind now, if they’re planning for college. A lot of families will think, figure out how to pay this year, and worry about next year next year. You can’t do that anymore with these new limits. You need to caclculate what you need to borrow for the full degree. And if it’s beyond these new limits, you need to find a way to pay for the rest of it.
Congress seems to think so [these new loan limits will put pressure on schools to lower tuition rates]. But whether that happens remains to be seen. What I’m afraid of, from the unofficial chatter I’ve been hearing, is that colleges may drop programs that aren’t going to be affordable to people at with these new loan limits.

Investopedia

Under the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” the RAP is the only income-driven plan available to college students who borrow federal student loans after July 1.
Monthly payments will be calculated based on 1% to 10% of their income, depending on their earnings, and borrowers can subtract $50 per dependent child per month. (Borrowers can estimate their specific monthly payment using this calculator from The Institute of Student Loan Advisors. Borrowers will be able to view the RAP plan on the Federal Student Aid’s Loan Simulator on July 1.)

Axios

One group hit hardest is parent PLUS borrowers, says Betsy Mayotte, the president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors.

New Parent PLUS loans for parents of dependent students from July 1 must be repaid under the new tiered standard plan, without options for an income-driven plan.
If existing borrowers didn’t consolidate in time, they’re left with far fewer options.
“It’s heartbreaking … we’re getting emails from Parent Plus borrowers almost every day, saying, ‘I borrowed this much, my income is this much, I was anticipating being able to use an income-driven plan,'” she says. “And now, it’s too late.”
The OBBBA also put new caps on parent PLUS loans: $20,000 per year and a $65,000 total cap per dependent.

Hello Houston PBS

There are two buckets of changes. There are changes that effect loan limits, and then there are a bucket of changes that affect repayment plans.
Federal student loan borrowers have repayment plans they can get on that are based on their income and plans based on their loan balance and term.
Even for borrowing loans going forward, we have a few buckets here as well. Parent borrowers used to be able to borrow up to the Cost of Attendance minus other aid. Going forward, parents can only borrow up to $20k per student per year, and a maximum of $65k per student.

International Business Times

The overhaul stems from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law last year, which the Trump administration has framed as an effort to streamline a federal student loan system that, until now, offered borrowers seven different repayment plans to choose from.

Parent PLUS borrowers are among those facing the steepest changes. Betsy Mayotte, president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, said her organization has been fielding a steady stream of distress from affected families.

“It’s heartbreaking … we’re getting emails from Parent Plus borrowers almost every day,” Mayotte said.

Texas Standard

For any body who borrowers a new loan on/after July 1, 2026, instead of having a whole basket of plans available to them, they will only have two — tiered standard plan or a new income-driven plan called RAP the Repayment Assistance Plan. For borrowers who don’t take on any new debt or consolidate on/after July 1 — they will have access to that RAP plan as well as the existing plans.

Under HR1, the budget bill that passed last summer. Congress got rid of a program called Graduate PLUS where they could borrow up to the cost of attendance. The limited graduate programs to $20,500 per year and no more than $100k, and for professional students to $50k per year and no more than $200k. But a judge is putting an injunction on how they are defining what a professional program is.

MSN

Don’t overlook state-level programs either. The Institute of Student Loan Advisors (TISLA) maintains a searchable database of forgiveness programs by state (10), and many go underutilized simply because borrowers don’t know they exist.