Student Loans for Graduate School: Who Will Be Affected by the New Federal Lending Limits?

We summarize the distribution of federal borrowing and credit scores for a representative sample of students who began graduate studies during 2015–2024, providing key new facts about the creditworthiness of the borrower graduate student population. We find that about one in three graduate students with federal loans borrowed above the new limits. Among borrowers with loan amounts above the new borrowing limits, nearly 40 percent may not be able to secure private loans without a cosigner under existing underwriting standards. Additionally, we document significant heterogeneity in creditworthiness based on program of study, suggesting that the severity of credit rationing resulting from the new limits will vary across those programs.