Hello! I am currently going through the Entrance Counseling for loan application/disbursement, where it says the max amount for a Direct Unsubsidized Loan is 20.5k, but on Penn/UC Davis/Vandy's websites, they list ~40k as the cap. Is this extra 20k granted for med students, or is the 40k number outdated?
Direct Unsubsidized Loan Max Amount
- Thread starter tatharel
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2010
- Messages
- 5,049
- Reaction score
- 6,077
I'm not sure about the exact cut off but it's much higher than 20.5K.
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2020
- Messages
- 298
- Reaction score
- 590
There are two categories for Direct Unsub Grad loans. One is the standard Graduate/Professional loan which has a cap of $20,500 per academic year.
The other is the Health Professions loan. The Health Professions cap was set to $40,500 in 2007 but additional allowances were made based on number of months you attend school. The amount ranges from 9 months at $40,500 to 12 months at $47,167 (aka $2,222 per additional curricular month). However this depends entirely on how your school sets up its curriculum and loans and not on how many "in school" days there are.
Most medical schools have a 10 month curriculum but are able to provide students with the 12 month loan amount. I have absolutely no idea what the specific requirements are for the full amount even if the school year is less than 12 months.
The other is the Health Professions loan. The Health Professions cap was set to $40,500 in 2007 but additional allowances were made based on number of months you attend school. The amount ranges from 9 months at $40,500 to 12 months at $47,167 (aka $2,222 per additional curricular month). However this depends entirely on how your school sets up its curriculum and loans and not on how many "in school" days there are.
Most medical schools have a 10 month curriculum but are able to provide students with the 12 month loan amount. I have absolutely no idea what the specific requirements are for the full amount even if the school year is less than 12 months.
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2013
- Messages
- 670
- Reaction score
- 322
For my school this is max for a year. I think the cap is for 1 year not 1 semester.
Fed Direct Grad Plus [$52k/year max]
Fed Direct Unsub Loan [$47k/year max]
Fed Direct Grad Plus [$52k/year max]
Fed Direct Unsub Loan [$47k/year max]
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2017
- Messages
- 417
- Reaction score
- 470
I will throw in a 2 cents - your school's COA will really determine the max you can take out. Uncle Sam might say "Go ahead and snag 50K" but your school's financial aid department might say "Nah you only need 30" and they are the gatekeeper there. So just keep that in mind, I'm having to grapple with it now because no one told me lol.
Thank you! Another potentially silly question I have is where do I check that I'm a med student so the unsubsidized loan cap increases to 40k? And if I want to borrow less than the 40k cap, where do I specify the amount? There isn't a place on the MPN for these details...
Right, thanks for this great point! I'm reading the MPN currently and it says "Your school will determine the actual loan amount you are eligible to receive" based on a number of personal factors, so the federally mandated max is the absolute maximum.
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2020
- Messages
- 298
- Reaction score
- 590
You'll submit a loan request form to your school that says how much you'd like to receive in federal loans. This can be done at any time in the school year though so if you take out say $30k and realize you need more you can just request it from the school up to your total COA (Unsub + Plus loans).
