Important Financial Aid Announcements

Federal Student Update: One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)

In July of 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was implemented, leading to significant changes to several Federal Student Aid programs. While there have been no changes to the 2025-2026 federal aid programs, the changes impacting the 2026-2027 award years and beyond will go into effect on July 1st, 2026. UVA Wise has been closely monitoring these updates and we intend to continue to relay important information to our student body as we become aware of updates.

Changes to Federal Student Aid

Undergraduate students: Federal Pell Grant and Federal Direct Loans

  • Part time loan proration: UVA Wise will be required to prorate annual loan amounts based on student enrollment. If you plan to enroll in 11 credits or less, anticipate a reduction in your federal loan funds offered.
  • Pell Grant ineligibility: Students who receive awards from non-federal sources that cover their entire cost of attendance are ineligible to receive a Pell Grant, even if they are eligible for the program.

Graduate: Graduate PLUS loan program and new loan limits

  • Part time loan proration: UVA Wise will be required to prorate annual loan amounts based on student enrollment. If you plan to enroll in less than 9 credits, anticipate a reduction in your federal loan funds offered.
  • The Graduate PLUS loan program has been eliminated, effective July 1st, 2026.
    • If a borrower has a Federal Direct Loan made before July 1 2026, while enrolled in a program of study, the student may continue to borrow from the program for three academic years or for the remainder of their program. If the remainder of the program is longer than three years, the student will be limited to the three year legacy provision period.

Parent Borrowers:

  • Effective July 1st, 2026, Parent Plus Loan borrowers will be limited to $16,250 per dependent student per academic year at UVA Wise. Combined limits have been set in place for Parent Plus loans in the amount of $65,000. (Please note, this does not include amounts forgiven, repaid, canceled, or discharged.) Parents and students should begin financially planning for funding gaps that may be created as a result of the loan changes. Legacy provisions apply.

Loan Repayment:

Loans made on or after July 1, 2026 may only be repaid using two plans: A new Standard Repayment Plan or the new income based repayment plan, called the Repayment Assistance Plan or RAP.

  • Standard Repayment Plan:  New standard repayment plan with four fixed terms of 10, 15, 20, or 25 years based on the amount the student has borrowed.
  • Repayment Assistance Plan: This new income-based repayment plan requires a $10 minimum payment with monthly payments being 1-10% of income based on the student’s Adjusted Gross Income or AGI. There is no cap on the monthly repayment plan amount.

Less Than Full Time Loan Adjustments:

Starting with the 2026–27 award year, Direct Loan amounts for students who are not full-time for the full academic year will need to be adjusted. We are waiting for guidance from the Department of Education on the formula for making these adjustments in all scenarios.  What we have received to date indicates that less than full-time enrollment in one semester may affect loan eligibility in another, rather than just the semester in which it occurred, but the Department of Education's examples are not comprehensive enough to fully outline how this will work in every enrollment scenario. For example, we have no guidance as to how this will work for enrollment in the summer semester.

Less than full-time formula for loan eligibility: 

(Number of credits enrolled for the academic year ÷ Number of credits considered full-time for that academic year) × 100 = Reduced annual loan limit percentage

This adjustment rule applies to all undergraduate and graduate student Direct Loan borrowers, utilizing Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and/or Graduate PLUS Loans. Even those considered legacy borrowers who have borrowed from any of these loan programs prior to July 1, 2026 are subject to this rule. 

Since this rule only impacts student borrowing, the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan is not subject to these adjustments for less-than-full-time study.

 

 The One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduces significant changes to federal student aid programs, and while some provisions are clear, many others require further clarification from the U.S. Department of Education.

We understand that students, families, and staff have questions—and so do we.

As we receive more guidance and official updates, we will continue to revise and expand this webpage to reflect the most accurate and actionable information available.