Sponsor
Shomari C. Figures
Representative · D-AL
The bill restores graduate and professional students' access to Federal PLUS loans, increasing their ability to finance advanced degrees and stabilizing enrollment, while raising student debt burdens, potential taxpayer risk, and the chance that institutions feel less pressure to limit tuition increases.
Graduate and professional students (and their families) regain access to Federal Direct PLUS loans, allowing them to borrow additional federal funds to cover tuition and living expenses when other aid is insufficient.
Colleges and universities are less likely to face enrollment disruptions in graduate and professional programs because more students can finance their studies with PLUS loans.
Graduate and professional borrowers will likely take on larger total debt burdens and higher long-term repayment costs as a result of renewed PLUS borrowing eligibility.
Taxpayers could face increased long-term exposure to loan losses or defaults if higher-balance PLUS borrowers are unable to repay.
Colleges and universities may have less incentive to restrain tuition growth because students can rely on expanded federal PLUS borrowing, potentially contributing to higher costs over time.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Restores Federal Direct PLUS loan eligibility for graduate and professional students by removing statutory termination and related limits.
Representative · D-AL
Official title: To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to terminate Federal student loan limits and restore the availability of Federal Direct PLUS Loans for graduate and professional students.
Introduced September 1, 2026 by Shomari C. Figures · Last progress September 1, 2026
Restores federal Direct PLUS loan eligibility for graduate and professional students by removing statutory language that would have terminated the program and by deleting related transitional limits and cross-references. The change reopens the Federal Direct PLUS loan option to graduate/professional borrowers and cleans up internal statute numbering and references. The amendment revises 20 U.S.C. § 1087e(a) to delete the paragraphs that terminated or limited PLUS loan authority for graduate and professional students, renumbers remaining paragraphs for consistency, and updates internal cross-references so the statute reflects the restored loan authority.