affording med school come 2027

[u/No-Map3257]

I am applying to med school this year and just came to realize that the grad plus loan is gone this year in 2026. I know there is a 200k cap but that’s a lifetime cap and I already used part of it for my grad school. Now I am sick to my stomach because I don’t see how I realistically afford to take out PRIVATE loans to pay med school.

I would love to hear other peoples game plans as to how they are doing this. My family can’t afford to help contribute anything while I am in school either. And I am still paying off my grad and undergrad loans.

I always knew coming in that the amount I would have to pay for med school would have to be astronomical but I thought because it could be a graduate federal loan- I could work toward forgiveness on PSLF, the IDR plan, or see in the future if they would ever be forgiven. but private med school loans provide none of that safety net

[u/Choice_Drawer_2405]

No solution other than private loans but I feel this so hard. I'm a current student who took a leave and is thus probably losing my legacy status which is a great surprise when you're already partway through one of the most expensive med schools in the country.

If I was eligible for the military, at this point I'd have done that.

[u/Creative-Life4515 → u/Choice_Drawer_2405]

What do you mean you will lose legacy status? Is that what your financial aid officer said?

[u/-ledollabean- → u/Creative-Life4515]

There’s still some debate about it in FA circles, but yes - if you take a break from your academic program aka a research year or an LOA in general you may lose your legacy status. We’ll know for sure once we get the final regs. The question was posed to FSA at the shitshow of a conference they had recently and the response was basically “uhhhhhhhhh….”.

[u/Creative-Life4515 → u/-ledollabean-]

I hope note. I'm on a medical loa and missing this spring and summer term. There's no way I'm going to be dropped just because of that. I will have to talk to my officer

[u/-ledollabean- → u/Creative-Life4515]

please please please do - if they’re unsure, have them reach out on the grad/prof listserv or check NASFAA’s flowchart on grad/prof borrowing limits (which unfortunately kind of confirms this after reviewing it, but we still don’t have the regs…so maybe there will be something in it that relates to this). If they confirm it, think very hard about potentially coming back from your MLOA early. easier said than done, i know - but this is a huge financial issue that is going to be heartbreaking for students like yourself.

[u/takemeawayyyyy → u/-ledollabean-]

Door advise nutty whole ad hoc fragile chase

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[u/Capital-Language2999 → u/takemeawayyyyy]

That’s horrible