Georgia colleges, students adjust to federal loan program changes

Mackenzie Hickson graduated from Spelman College this spring and looked forward to a restful summer before starting her graduate degree classes this fall at Emory University. That was until her mentor said she’d have to be enrolled by July 1 to get the Grad PLUS loans she needed to help pay for school.

“They told me basically that I have no choice but to take classes this summer,” Hickson said, who is pursuing a degree in public health.

Because she was told she had to start courses during the summer, adding a term to her graduate studies, Hickson will likely have to borrow more than she originally intended.

A massive tax and spending bill signed into law last year by President Donald Trump eliminated the Grad PLUS loan program, which took effect July 1. It also added new limits on other federal loans and ended the Biden-era SAVE plan.

The changes forced students like Hickson to adjust to the regulations.

Grad PLUS loans allowed student borrowers to take out up to the full cost of attendance, while direct unsubsidized loans had limits. The U.S. Department of Education had established separate direct unsubsidized loan categorizations for “professional” and “graduate” degrees, each with different annual and aggregate borrowing limits, the former having higher limits.

But one unexpected change took place a couple of weeks ago when a federal judge found the department exceeded its authority by narrowing which post-undergraduate degrees count as “professional.” Several degrees previously categorized as graduate, particularly nursing, have been added to the professional category for the duration of the court’s stay.

How Georgia universities are adapting

The Grad PLUS program has been one of several lifelines for Georgia borrowers, with nearly 2 million borrowers nationwide, according to some estimates. A grandfather clause allows students who borrowed a Grad PLUS loan before June 30 to continue borrowing for three academic years, or until the end of their program, whichever comes first. The Peach State ranks third in the nation for student average loan debt per borrower, at about $42,000.

The new legislation drops the borrowing limits for direct unsubsidized loans significantly. More than 1 in 4 graduate borrowers would exceed the new unsubsidized loan limits, according to EdTrust, which says its mission is to dismantle racial and economic barriers in the educational system. The elimination of Grad PLUS loans, in addition to stricter limits on the loans that remain in place, will arguably create an affordability gap in graduate education access.

The court ruling has created uncertainty for some Georgia universities. Students who take out loans for a degree newly considered professional risk being dropped back down to the graduate category depending on the outcome of legal proceedings. This would happen if the U.S. Department of Education successfully appeals the judge’s ruling.

“At Emory, we are taking a wait-and-see approach,” said John Leach, Emory University’s vice provost for enrollment, student financial services and registration.

Georgia Tech officials are also trying to work with students through the changes.

“Let’s say for the first year of their program, (a student) borrows $50,000 at the higher level, and then the court rules that it’s just a graduate program. They get bumped back to an aggregate limit of $100,000, and they’ve used 50% of their eligibility already,” said Katie Conrad, the executive director of Georgia Tech’s Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. “I feel for those who are trying to figure this out with no time. (Some of) these students have already started in summer programs, and they still don’t know what they’re eligible for.”

Hickson called the original degree classifications a “disservice.”

“It saddens me a little that we devalue particular disciplines and degree paths when there really is room for everyone and there’s a need for all of it,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s because people don’t necessarily understand what it is we do, or if it is really an intentional attack on work that’s trying to build a more equitable world.”

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