Consider two dental students at the same school. One enrolled in 2025 and borrowed under Grad PLUS. The other enrolls in August 2026. They sit in the same clinic, pay the same tuition, and complete the same clinical rotations. One can borrow the full cost of attendance from the federal government. The other is capped at $50,000, roughly half of what the program costs.
As described in the Interim Exception above, grandfathered students retain access to prior borrowing rules while new enrollees fall under the new caps, creating two concurrent lending regimes within the same institution and program.
Financial aid offices face the challenge of administering two parallel lending regimes simultaneously. Award letters for the 2026–2027 academic year must reflect the old rules for continuing students and the new rules for incoming students.
As of this report's publication in February 2026, enrollment decisions for fall 2026 are already underway. Financial aid packages typically go out in March and April, when students will see the gap for the first time in their award letters. By May, anecdotal reports of deferred admissions and program withdrawals may begin. By September, the first enrollment data under the new regime should begin to emerge.