New federal loan caps for graduate and professional students will take effect under rules eliminating Grad PLUS for new borrowers and applying new annual and aggregate limits, according to COHEAO reporting. The changes shift the financing model toward a credit-based framework, meaning local borrower credit access and repayment context will influence how students close gaps. A COHEAO analysis (“Mapping the Gap”) estimated approximately $8.7 billion in modeled borrowing above the new annual caps, with patient-facing healthcare accounting for about $6.1 billion. The report also identifies 166 high-brand institutions accounting for roughly $3.3 billion in exposure, while smaller private nonprofit institutions with fewer than 5,000 undergraduates account for about $1.9 billion. For colleges and universities, the implementation question is now immediate: financial aid strategies, institutional aid packaging, and student support operations will need to adjust to uneven distributional impacts across programs and campuses. The changes also create a near-term affordability risk for future clinicians, lawyers, MBAs, nurses, and other career-focused graduates, increasing pressure to strengthen bridging supports and debt risk mitigation.