Starting on July 1, 2026, the Department of Education is implementing changes to different federal loan programs. Below are different categories and how each group has been affected. The Financial Aid Office will work individually with families affected by these changes to identify alternative financing strategies.
Please note: We are still receiving updated guidance from the Department of Education. As we get new information, we will be updating this page.
Last updated: September 3, 2026
Federal Loan Legacy Provisions:
As part of the regulation changes, a student or parent who has previously borrowed a federal loan at Bridgewater College prior to July 1, 2026, will be considered a legacy borrower. This means that these changes will not affect you. The legacy borrower status is only valid for three years maximum and you must be continually enrolled to maintain the legacy borrower status. Once you graduate, take a semester off or cease enrollment, you will lose your legacy borrower status.
Undergraduate Students:
Dependent & Independent Students: There are no changes to the subsidized and unsubsidized annual loan limits or aggregate loan limits.
Parents of Undergraduate Students:
One major change is how much parents can borrow for their student. Under the new regulations, the annual and aggregate loan limits have changed. Please see the below chart:
| Annual Limit: | Aggregate Lifetime Limit: | |
|---|---|---|
| Current BC (Legacy) Borrowers: | Up to Cost of Attendance minus all other financial aid | No limit |
| First Time BC Borrowers: | Up to Cost of Attendance minus all other financial aid or $20,000, whichever is lower | $65,000 |
Note: The limits noted above are calculated per student and not per parent.
Guidance from the Financial Aid Office for families borrowing at BC for the first time: Based on the above information, please take into account the amount of Parent PLUS loans you borrow each year. Also note that if both parents borrow for the same student, their combined borrowing cannot exceed these limits. You can use this estimator to inform your Parent PLUS loan budget:
Parent PLUS Loan Distribution Estimator
Plan your borrowing strategy and track your $65,000 lifetime limit.
Loan Parameters
Borrowing Projection
Note: Dividing the $65,000 maximum evenly over 4 years allows for $16,250 each year. Borrowing the $20,000 maximum annually will completely deplete your lifetime limit by Year 4, leaving only $5,000.
Graduate Students:
The Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan is being eliminated beginning July 1, 2026. If a graduate student borrowed a federal student loan prior to July 1, 2026, they may still qualify for a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan under the legacy borrower provisions.
The Federal Direct Unsubsidized Graduate Loans have not changed. A graduate student may borrow $20,500 annually with a graduate aggregate loan limit of up to $100,000.
Graduate students facing a funding gap will need to explore private graduate loans. Please see our private loans page for a list of lenders.
Student Federal Loan Schedule of Reductions (SOR) Proration
Federal regulation requires institutions to prorate the annual loan limit for direct loans for students with Less than Full-Time (LTFT) enrollment planned for an academic year (or equivalent) established by proposed 34 CFR 685.203(m)(1).
These changes impact students who receive federal loans and take less than a full-time course load in an academic year (Undergraduate – 24 credits, Graduate – 27 credits)
- Full-Time Academic Year Definition: To be considered full-time for the academic year–
- Undergraduate students: Must take 24 credit hours over the course of the fall and spring terms.
- Graduate students: Must take 27 credits over the course of the summer, fall and spring terms.
- Half-time Enrollment: Students must be enrolled at least in a half-time load of financial aid-eligible classes to receive a Federal Direct Loan in any given semester. The minimum number of credits per semester to be considered half-time is:
- Undergraduate students: 6 credit hours
- Graduate students: 5 credit hours
- Loan Amount: You can receive the full annual Federal Direct Loan amount as long as your financial aid eligibility allows you to do so.
- Less than Full-Time Enrollment: Starting with the 2026–27 award year, Direct Loan amounts for students who are not full-time for the full academic year will need to be adjusted. This is called a Schedule of Reduction, or SOR change. Full-time enrollment is determined by term and by the academic year, whereas, prior to this, the rules were limited to enrollment in a single term. The examples below outline how this works.
- Full-Time Academic Year Definition (No change from the current rules): To be considered full-time for the academic year–
- Undergraduate students: Must take 24 credit hours over the course of the fall and spring terms.
- Graduate students: Must take 27 credits over the course of the summer, fall and spring terms.
- Half-time Enrollment (No change from the current rules): Students must be enrolled for at least a half-time load of financial aid-eligible classes to receive a Federal Direct Loan in any given semester. The minimum number of credits per semester to be considered half-time is:
- Undergraduate students: 6 credit hours
- Graduate students: 5 credit hours
- Full-Time Academic Year Definition (No change from the current rules): To be considered full-time for the academic year–
- Less than full-time formula for loan eligibility:
(number of credit hours enrolled for academic year / number of credit hours considered full time for that academic year for the program of study) × 100 = reduced annual loan limit percentage
This adjustment rule applies to all undergraduate and graduate student Direct Loan borrowers, utilizing Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and/or Graduate PLUS Loans. Even those considered legacy borrowers who have borrowed from any of these loan programs prior to July 1, 2026 are subject to this rule.
Since this rule only impacts student borrowing, the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan is not subject to these adjustments for less-than-full-time study.
Example Student Award Offer – Dependent Junior
As a dependent junior, you can borrow up to $7,500 in student loans for the school year if you are enrolled in 12 credit hours in the fall and 12 credit hours in the spring, which is considered full-time for both semesters.
That means:
- Full-time for the year = 24 credits (12 fall + 12 spring)
- The loan normally comes in two equal payments:
- Fall: $3,750
- Spring: $3,750
What Happens When You Withdraw from a Class
If you withdraw from a class and go from 12 credits to 9 credits in the fall, your total loans for the year will need to be reduced. This will create a reduction to anticipated loans in the spring.
Before awarding you the spring portion of the loan, Bridgewater must verify how many credits you are actually going to finish for the combined fall and spring terms.
The New Plan for the Year
- Fall: 9 credits
- Spring (expected): 12 credits
- Total: 21 credits
Full‑time for the year is 24 credits, but now you only have 21 credits planned.
Percent of Full-Time Course Load Being Completed
(21
This means you are scheduled to complete 88% of the credits needed to be considered full‑time for the combined fall and spring terms.
How This Affects Federal Loans
Since you are only completing 87.5% of the needed credits, you can only receive 88% of the $7,500 loan limit:
Your new eligibility for the year is $7,500 x 88% = $6,600
How To Still Get the Full Spring Loan
If you take 15 credits in the spring, then your total for the year becomes:
- Fall: 9
- Spring: 15
- Total: 24 credits
Now you are back on track to complete a full‑time year. If your loans were reduced for the spring term based on the fall enrollment change, this means they can be increased so the sum total of the academic year loan equals the $7,500 limit (assuming you meet the rest of the general eligibility criteria to receive that amount).
The Financial Aid Office will work individually with families affected by these changes to identify alternative financing strategies.
Questions? Reach out
Financial Aid Office
Phone: 540-828-5377
finaid@bridgewater.edu
