Part-time student loan limits for 2026-27: the new cut

For 2026-27 and every award year after it, your federal Direct Loan limit is cut in direct proportion to how far below full time you enroll: in Federal Student Aid’s example, 12 credits in a 24-credit full-time year keeps 50% of the limit. Source · FSA FAQ

If you are putting your own hard-earned money in this time, you want the gap before you register. Taking a few classes at a time doesn’t rule out a loan: at least half time in an eligible program, you can still borrow, just less. Drop 6 of 12 fall credits after the fall payment and take 6 in spring, and FSA’s own example ends with a spring loan of $0.

The rule applies to any period of enrollment that starts on or after July 1, 2026. Before then, FSA says, students at costly schools “could in many cases borrow the maximum annual loan amount even though they were not enrolled full-time during the year.” Our student loans hub lists the other guides to federal loans.

Your limit keeps the share of full time you take

FSA calls the rule the Schedule of Reductions: “a percentage reduction in the annual loan amount that is in direct proportion to the degree to which a student is not enrolled on a full-time basis.” Source · FSA FAQ, question 1

In FSA’s worked example, the school divides the credits you enroll in during the academic year by the credits in a full-time academic year. That percentage, rounded to the nearest whole percent (0 to 4 down, 5 to 9 up), is the share of your annual limit you can borrow. Source · FSA FAQ, question 11

Your school sets what full time means, within federal minimums. For undergraduates in semester, trimester or quarter programs, full time is at least 12 credit hours a term. In programs without terms, it is at least 24 semester hours or 36 quarter hours over the academic year. Source · FSA FAQ, question 5

If you are working out how many classes fit around a job, what one to four classes add to a 40-hour week has the hours, and the time-to-degree calculator shows how long a lighter load takes to finish.

Full-time limits are where the cut starts

StudentAid.gov lists every undergraduate annual limit as “No change” after July 1, 2026. Then it adds the part-time rule:

“If you’re enrolled less than full time for an academic year, your annual loan limits shown in the chart (or the lower limits set by your school) are adjusted downward proportionally based on your level of enrollment.” Source · StudentAid.gov, OBBBA definitions

Dependent students whose parent can’t get a parent PLUS loan because of adverse credit can borrow up to the independent limits. Source · StudentAid.gov, OBBBA definitions

Graduate students can borrow up to $20,500 a year in Direct Unsubsidized Loans. Their limit is cut the same way when they enroll less than full time. Source · FSA FAQ, question 19

These are ceilings: your cost of attendance still caps the loan, and FSA says it “is reduced based on borrower’s current enrollment status.” Other aid still counts against it. Rates and repayment for these loans are in how federal and private loans differ.

FSA’s example: 6 credits a term kept 50%, and spring came to $0

This is Federal Student Aid’s own example, question 17 of its FAQ. A first-year student had 12 credits when the school paid the fall loan, then withdrew from 6 fall credits and took 6 credits in spring. Source · FSA FAQ, question 17

1. Count the year's credits

   Fall 6 plus spring 6 is 12 credits.

2. Divide by a full-time year

   12 of a 24-credit full-time year is 50%.

3. Apply it to the annual limit

   50% of $5,500 is $2,750 for the year.

4. Subtract what was already paid

   The fall payment, made at full time, was $2,750. That leaves $0 for spring.

In FSA’s example the school left the fall payment alone, which it may do: it is “not required to retroactively reduce that Fall disbursement.” The adjustment came out of spring instead, because fall had already used the year’s whole reduced limit.

Your school checks your load before every payment

A school may package your aid at the load you expect, full time or part time. Before each disbursement it must confirm your actual enrollment and, if you are below full time, apply the cut first. Source · FSA FAQ, questions 12 and 16

• Uneven payments are allowed. After a cut, the school may pay the loan in installments of different sizes.
• A failing grade is not a drop. An earned F or an incomplete “generally does not mean that the student was not enrolled in the course,” so the school may not need to cut your next payment for that alone.
• Asking for less still works. If you request less than your reduced limit, you get the lower amount.
• No double cut in a short last stretch. When an undergraduate’s remaining period of study is shorter than an academic year, the school prorates the limit under the older rule and does not also apply the part-time cut.

Parent PLUS is not cut, and some programs don’t have to cut

The cut covers loans in the student’s name. It doesn’t apply to the parent’s loan, and schools aren’t required to apply it in some program calendars. Source · FSA FAQ, questions 2, 3 and 6

FSA explains the second group: those calendars require “borrowers to complete prescribed hours in the enrollment periods before earning additional loan funds.” Even students who keep the older loan limits under the interim exception get the cut. Your aid office can tell you which calendar your program uses.

Below half time there is no Direct Loan at all

Every Direct Loan still needs at least half-time enrollment in an eligible program. Source · FSA FAQ, question 8 So the cut matters between half time and full time. Below half time, there is no Direct Loan to cut.

Pell has its own part-time rule. What one, two or three classes pay in Pell covers it.

Ask your aid office four things before you register

1. How many credits is a full-time year here?

   That number is the bottom of the fraction, so it sets your percentage.

2. Does my program use terms, no terms or subscription periods?

   The calendar decides whether the school must apply the cut at all.

3. What percentage will you apply for my planned load?

   Ask for the reduced annual amount and how it splits across payments.

4. When do you check my enrollment?

   Know the date before each payment, so you add or drop a class with the loan in view.

Frequently asked questions

Is Parent PLUS reduced if my child goes part time?

No. FSA says parents who take out a Parent PLUS loan for a dependent student “are not subject to such a reduction in annual loan limits.”

I failed a class. Does that cut my spring loan?

Not by itself. The cut counts the credits you enrolled in. An earned F or incomplete generally still counts as enrolled, though your school has its own procedure for students who stop attending.

Does the cut apply to loans from before July 1, 2026?

No. A loan period that began before July 1, 2026 is not reduced for its 2025-26 disbursements. Any loan for 2026-27 or a later award year is.

Your next step is your full-time limit

Every figure the cut produces is a share of your full-time annual limit. The aid check shows the first-year limit, the third-year limit after an associate degree, or the graduate limit after a bachelor’s, all at full time. Then ask your aid office what share of a full-time year your planned load is.