Spending bill caps med student borrowing to $200K

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law July 4 established federal loan limits for medical students. 

Effective July 1, 2026, the maximum amount a medical student can borrow from Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loans will be $200,000. A previous version of the bill proposed a $150,000 cap. 

The law will also terminate graduate and professional PLUS loans, which covered graduate students’ tuition and living expenses after finishing their direct loans. 

In 2023, medical students in the U.S. graduated with an average debt of $206,924, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. 

Of the 70% of medical students in the class of 2023 who graduated with educational debt, more than 80% incurred more than $100,000 in debt, and 54% graduated with at least $200,000 in debt. At some schools, students incur more than $270,000 in debt.