The maximum amount of federal loans that can be taken out by graduate students in a single academic year is $20,500. However, after origination fees (the percentage amount that the federal government adds to your loan for giving you the loan), that number is closer to $20,280.
If you are receiving additional forms of aid such as the Urban Teacher Scholarship, third party payments (for example, from your employer), or TEACH grants, these amounts will lower what you are able to take out both per semester and per year.
How to Calculate Your Federal Aid Eligibility
You will receive a financial aid offer letter at the beginning of each academic year that lists your tuition per term, your institutional financial aid, and your out-of-pocket costs per term. You can use this letter along with the estimated cost of attendance per semester to help you calculate what your federal aid eligibility is.
Below is a table for determining your expected costs of attendance for the 2019-2020 school year. This is a rough average of your living costs as a student.
Using the above financial aid offer letter and estimated cost of attendance, you can calculate your maximum loan eligibility per semester by deducting your total awards from your total cost of attendance.
See example below:
|
Term |
Summer 2019 |
Fall 2019 |
Spring 2020 |
|
1. Estimated Cost of Attendance Per Semester |
$12,588 |
$19,427 |
$19,427 |
|
2. Minus Total Awards |
$5,800 |
$1,475 |
$1,475 |
|
3. Minus Outside Awards |
|||
|
4. Minus TEACH grant amount, if applicable |
|||
|
Equals Maximum Loan Eligibility Per Term |
$6,788 |
$17,952 |
$17,952 |
Since the maximum amount of federal loans (after origination fees) is $20,280 the total amount you request for the 2019-2020 academic year cannot exceed that amount.
Example 1
A student wants to know how much he is eligible to request in federal loans for the summer and fall terms. He looks at his award letter and subtracts $5,800 (summer total awards) from $12,588 (summer cost of attendance) and gets $6,788. This is his maximum summer eligibility because he has no other awards or scholarships during the summer.
If he requests a loan for the summer term, the most he can take out for the fall term would be $13,492 since the maximum amount he can take out in federal loans for the year is $20,280:
$20,280 (max loans per year) - $6,788 (summer loan) = $13,492
If this student requested a summer loan of $6,788 and a fall loan of $13,492, they would not be eligible to request a spring loan since they have already requested the maximum amount of federal loans for the 2019-2020 academic year.
Example 2
A student doesn't take out a loan for summer or fall but wants to know how much they're eligible to request for the spring term. She looks at her award letter and subtracts $1,475 (total spring awards) from $19,427 (spring cost of attendance) and gets $17,952. Even though the maximum amount of federal loans for the 2019-2020 academic year is $20,280, the maximum amount the student can request for the spring term is $17,952.