
Changes in federal funding for law school
Federal legislation passed in July 2025 has significantly changed the loans available for law school education. The new legislation takes effect on July 1, 2026, and thus will affect students who begin their graduate education in September 2026.
1. Professional (e.g., law) students
- The limit for professional students (e.g., law) will be $50,000 per year.
- The aggregate or lifetime limit will be $200,000.
2. Graduate students
- The limit for graduate students in non-professional programs will be $20,500 per year.
- The aggregate or lifetime limit will be $100,000.
- This limit does not include loans borrowed for undergraduate education.
3. Borrowers who are both graduate and professional students at different points in their academic careers can borrow up to $200,000 total for their graduate and professional studies.
4. The Grad PLUS loan program, which previously allowed graduate students to borrow up to their school’s cost of attendance (minus other financial aid), will be eliminated for new borrowers starting July 1, 2026.
- Law students who are already enrolled and who have borrowed Grad PLUS loans before July 1, 2026, will be able to continue borrowing under current limits – up to 3 academic years or the remainder of their program, whichever is less.
5. The new rules for funding are tied to the date that you begin law school and not to the date that you’re admitted. Thus, if you are admitted in March 2026 and you take out a loan in April 2026 to pay for law school beginning in September 2026, you will be covered by the new funding rules.
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Financial aid professionals and others who are involved in providing law school funding expect that private lenders (i.e., retail banks and others) will make funds available to help support law school education. We will know more in the coming months as private lenders step into this space.
Law schools are currently looking at their funding to figure out how the new rules are going to affect their programs. They will be assessing the situation at the same time as you’re applying, and so they may not have immediate answers to your questions. Please be patient when contacting them for information.