2026-27 Student Loan Changes FAQ

• Must have been actively enrolled at Liberty University, prior to July 1, 2026
  • The student must have either been enrolled in the Spring 2026 or Summer 2026 terms
  • The student’s last semester of attendance above must not have been a total withdrawal
• Must currently be in the same academic program today as they were prior to July 1, 2026
• Must have had a federal student loan disburse prior to July 1, 2026, for the same academic program they were enrolled in prior to July 1, 2026

The legacy status for eligible students lasts for the student’s calculated remaining time to credential* or 3 years (Fall 2026 through Spring 2029), whichever is less.

*Please note that this calculation is based on how long the student has been in the program at LU (based on time in the program, not credit hours attempted or earned at LU). If a student transfers into LU from the same program, the terms attended at the prior school are factored into the time to credential calculation.

Yes – There are 3 ways a student can lose their legacy status:

• A student changes their program
  • Undergraduate student loss of legacy: the student would have to change their program type. Example: Switching from a Bachelor of Science to an Associates of Arts
  • Graduate/Doctoral student loss of legacy: the student would have to switch to a program outside of their current program’s four-digit Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code.
• Failing to maintain continuous enrollment – A student must be enrolled every fall and spring semester in each academic year. The summer semester is considered optional.
• Completing a Total Withdrawal – Please review the Withdrawals webpage and our Financial Aid Withdrawal Policy for examples of a total withdrawal from a semester.
  

Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes are used by the U.S. Department of Education to identify and standardize academic programs. The full listing of CIP Codes can be found at the National Center for Education Statistics site.

You may also review this listing of CIP Codes from the Registrar’s Office.

No – failing/not passing all classes in a term is not considered ceasing enrollment, completing a total withdrawal, or changing programs.

No – you would lose your legacy status, because withdrawing from your only course in a term would be considered ceasing enrollment or completely withdrawing from the term. This applies to capstone/dissertation courses as well.

No – repeating a course is not one of the 3 reasons a student can lose their legacy status. However, the course may not be eligible for financial aid, depending on how many times it has been repeated. You can learn more by reviewing the Financial Aid Office Repeat Policy and the Registrar’s Office Undergraduate and Graduate Repeat Policies.

No – transferring into Liberty or to another school from Liberty will cause of loss of legacy status.

Yes – A legacy student can take the summer semester off because the U.S. Department of Education (ED) considers the summer term as optional.
Note: If a student chooses to attend in a summer term, but then completes a total withdrawal from the same term, the student will lose their legacy status, just like they would have during the fall or spring terms.

It depends – If you matriculated (i.e.: attended) into the new program, you cannot regain legacy status. There are no exceptions.

However, if you did not matriculate into the new program and you have also not ceased enrollment or completed a total withdrawal in your last term, you should be able to re-enroll in your past program and regain your legacy status. This will have to be manually reviewed by the Financial Aid Office.

Yes – as long as you had another federal student loan disburse prior to July 1, 2026, for the same academic program that established your legacy status, you are eligible to borrow. It did not have to specifically be a Graduate PLUS Loan. The loan would still have to fit into your cost of attendance to be eligible.

No – loss of legacy status has no bearing on the repayment plan options available to you. However, there are changes to the federal student loan repayment plans as of July 1, 2026, and you can read about them at this U.S. Department of Education website.

The U.S. Department of Education’s system is not set up to pre-determine whether an applicant is eligible for the legacy status. Once a PLUS loan approval is sent to the Financial Aid Office, it is then determined whether you are eligible based on legacy status.

No – You will lose your legacy status, because you are changing credential levels.

A parent-borrower can borrow up to $20k for each dependent child, annually.

No – a student can only have up to the $20,000 borrowed on their behalf by one parent-borrower in an academic year

Yes – A parent can borrow up to the $20,000 limit for more than one dependent child in a year.

Example: A parent has 3 dependent students in college. The parent (if approved for the loan) could borrow up to $20,000 for each student for the academic year.

Yes – only for non-legacy students. Non-legacy students have an aggregate limit of $65,000 in Parent PLUS loans borrowed on their behalf. Students under a legacy status continue to have no aggregate limit.

No – reaching the aggregate limit will not qualify a student for additional unsubsidized student loans.

A student’s time to credential is the published program length of their program minus the number of required semesters (fall and spring) that have passed since the student began the program. Whether or not the student actually enrolled in classes during these semesters does not change the time to credential period. This calculation also includes any transfer hours earned for the program.

Yes – per the new regulations, whether you were actually enrolled in classes during these semesters does not change the time to credential period. Your period would start at the Spring 2024 term and end at the Fall 2027 term.

Yes – Beginning with the 2026-27 academic year, all Federal Student Loans, regardless of legacy status, are subject to the schedule of reduction.

Note: Parent PLUS Loan are not subject to the schedule of reduction.

• Undergraduate: 12 credit hours
• Graduate: 9 credit hours
• Doctoral: 6 credit hours

No – A student can only receive up to 50% of their annual loan eligibility in one semester.

Please review the examples on our webpage under, “Schedule of Reduction Examples.”

Prior to July 1, 2026:

• Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine

On and after July 1, 2026:

• Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.)
• Juris Doctor (J.D.)
  • only includes students who did not matriculate into the program prior to 2026-27
• Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.)
  • only includes students who did not matriculate into the program prior to 2026-27
• Master of Divinity (M.Div.)
  • only includes students who did not matriculate into the program prior to 2026-27

No – the below limits remain in effect for all students, whether legacy or non-legacy:

No – the $20,500 annual limit remains in effect for all students, whether legacy or non-legacy.

As a non-legacy student, your annual unsubsidized loan limit would be up to $50,000. Keep in mind, the Financial Aid Office will only apply a student loan up to your cost of attendance (financial aid budget) for the academic year. If your cost of attendance is under 50,000, then you will not receive the full $50,000 in an unsubsidized student loan.

No – your unsubsidized annual loan limit would remain at the legacy limit of $20,500 annually.

No – eligible legacy students are still able to borrow up to their cost of attendance, while under the legacy status.

Yes – there are no changes to these federal student loan limits, which are $31,000 for a dependent student and $57,500 for an independent student.

• Dependent Undergraduate student: $31,000
• Independent Undergraduate student: $57,500
• Graduate/Doctoral Student: $100,000 (borrowed specifically at the GR/DR level)
• Overall eligibility: $157,500

• Dependent Undergraduate student: $31,000
• Independent Undergraduate student: $57,500
• Graduate/Doctoral Student: $138,500 (including any sub/unsub loans borrowed at the UG level)
• Overall eligibility: $138,500

It depends – The Financial Aid Office will have to determine how much of the $138,500 borrowed previously was borrowed specifically at was at the graduate/doctoral level. For example, in his scenario, if a student had only borrowed $80,000 at the GR/DR level, they could still receive $20,000 at the GR/DR level, bringing them to the new aggregate limit of $100,000.

• Annual: $50,000
• Aggregate limit: $200,000 (borrowed specifically at the GR/DR/Professional level)
• Overall lifetime eligibility: $257,500

• Annual: $47,167
• Aggregate limit: $224,000 (including any sub/unsub loans borrowed at the UG level)
• Overall lifetime eligibility: $224,000

It depends – regarding legacy students, PLUS loans are not factored into the aggregate limits mentioned.

For non-legacy students, past borrowed Graduate PLUS Loans are factored into the $257,500 lifetime limit. Parent PLUS Loans are not factored in.