Elimination of Grad PLUS Loan

Effective on July 1, 2026, and beyond, One Big Beautiful Bill is terminating the Graduate PLUS (Grad PLUS) Loan program for new borrowers. An interim exception (“grandfathering”) allows borrowers who received any Direct Loan in the prior year within their program to remain eligible, under defined circumstances.

To automate and streamline this update, a new configuration script will be introduced to determine Direct Loan eligibility and loan limits impacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill. This approach has been made configurable to enable rapid adaptation to any future updates from the Department of Education.

New OB3 Criteria configuration:

  • New OB3_Criteria configuration script was added to existing FAS_FUND_CONFIG.csv starting with the 2026-27 Award Year, and will run on a per term basis at each repackage of Direct Loans.
  • This script has access to the same data as Awarding_Override_Criteria and will be able to access the results of Awarding_Override_Criteria script, including the new "Loan Limit Exception Indicator" and ED data.
    • To access the calculated "Loan Limit Exception Indicator" set in Awarding_Override_Criteria script, the following binding is accessible
      • awardInfo.isLoanLimitException() binding will allow you to access the new "Loan Limit Exception Indicator" field set in Awarding_Override_Criteria script
    • To access the Loan Limit Exception data from ED, the following bindings are accessible
      • isirRecord.getField(IsirField.NSLDS_LOANLIMITEXCEPTIONFLAG).get() binding will allow you to access the "NSLDS Loan Limit Exception Flag" field received by ISIR

Delivered Baseline Logic:

  • Logic uses the new "Loan Limit Exception Indicator" set in Awarding_Override_Criteria to determine if the student qualifies under the interim exception rule. Refer to Loan Limit Exception Management for further details 
  • New Loan Packaging Restrictions:
    • If the student has "Loan Limit Exception Indicator" as null (if it was not set in Awarding_Override_Criteria) or No, the configuration will disable packaging new Grad PLUS Loans (by setting withAcyMaximum to 0) for all applicable academic years.
  • Existing Loans Remain Valid:
    • If the student has "Loan Limit Exception Indicator" as Yes, Grad PLUS Loans packaged will remain valid and unaffected.

UI Improvements:

UI enhancements were made to display the new calculated Grad PLUS Loan limit that will be used within schedule of reductions for student's that remain eligible for GPLUS. 

  • Fund Eligibility UI (View Only)
    • Navigation: Packaging > Fund Eligibility > Direct Loan
    • Within the Fund Eligibility popup, users with "Fund Eligibility Viewer" have a comprehensive overview of the Direct Loan eligibility details, including:
      • New Grad PLUS Loan Limit (by Academic Year):
        • Displays the Grad PLUS Loan limit, which represents the Initial Maximum Loan Limit (COA-EFA or Application Loan Amount) or Application Loan amount applied to Schedule of Reductions calculations.

Reporting Improvements:

The resulting “Grad PLUS Loan Limit” is available through reporting and extract views. This enables institutions to efficiently reconcile SFA student data with both ED records and their own student information systems (SIS).

Business Value

This update ensures regulatory compliance and streamlines loan processing by automating the elimination of Grad PLUS Loans, reducing risk and administrative effort during the transition after July 1, 2026.

Steps to enable and configure

Use the Opt In UI to enable this feature. For instructions, refer to the Optional Uptake of New Features section of this document.

Offering: Student Financial Aid

  • Update Configuration Scripts:
    • Review baseline configuration for Elimination of Grad PLUS posted on Cloud Customer Connect, and update your configuration.
      • To get started, ensure that "Configuration Administration" Permission is enabled and download your existing configuration from Oracle Student Financial Aid within Administration > Configuration Administration > Download.
      • This configuration will include the pre-populated system data and include the new column, which you can then update as needed.
        • Update FAS_FUND_CONFIG.cvs to add the delivered baseline groovy script for OB3_Criteria.
          • Note: We do not expect you will need to update the logic related to Grad PLUS based on any institutional policies.
        •  If you are already using a configuration approach to handle these students as outlined One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3) – Interim Exception Document + PLUS Loan Program Updates, update FAS_FUND_CONFIG.cvs to remove this logic from Awarding_Override_Criteria.
      • Navigate to Administration > Configuration Administration, and upload your zipped configuration
  • Repackage Students:
    • After successful testing in non production, you will need to load in your updated configuration to production, then repackage your graduate students to adjust their funding as needed.
      • Divide your bulk repackaging operation into manageable groups, taking into consideration processing windows, communication needs, and the availability of supporting resources. This approach will ensure you are well-equipped to assist students whose inquiries arise as a result of the repackaging process.
  • Submission to COD:
    • When you are ready to begin awarding and originating Direct Loans for the 2026-27 Award Year, follow the steps to enable within 2026-2027 Award Year Packaging Updates and 2026-2027 Award Year COD File Updates.

Tips and considerations

  • COD Enforcement: COD (Common Origination and Disbursement) will prevent origination and disbursement of new Grad PLUS Loans where both the Award Begin Date is on or after 07/01/2026 and the expected disbursement date is on or after 07/02/2026, unless the borrower qualifies for the grandfathered loan limit exception.
  • Configuring Grad PLUS for 2026-27: In order to correctly package Grad PLUS Loans for a Academic Year beginning before July 1, 2026 and to prevent inaccurate projections, you will still need to configure Grad PLUS for the 2026-27 Award Year by adding the fund as indicated in 2026-2027 Award Year Packaging Updates.
    • After adding the fund for 2026-27, you should enable this functionality by adding the new OB3 Criteria groovy script within the new OB3_Criteria Column
  • No Expected Logic Customization Needed: It is not expected that you will need to update or customize the base logic for Grad PLUS, as these regulatory requirements are federally mandated and not subject to institutional policy variations. The delivered solution provides standardized enforcement to eliminate the need for local configuration changes for this aspect.
  • OB3 Criteria Defaults: If OB3 Criteria is not configured, the system will default to using the existing Direct Loan limits that were in effect prior to the implementation of One Big Beautiful Bill, ensuring continuity of operations and preventing unintended enforcement of the new elimination of Grad PLUS in the absence of updated configuration.
  • Migrating from Interim Configuration Approach: If you are already using a configuration approach to handle these students as outlined One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3) – Interim Exception Document + PLUS Loan Program Updates, please remove this logic from awarding override criteria.

Key resources