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Offices/Financial aid/Types of aid/One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Less Than Full-Time Loan Adjustments

One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Less Than Full-Time Loan Adjustments

Important Disclaimer

  • Northeastern State University does not have the ability to grant exceptions to federal regulations, including those concerning enrollment, Legacy provisions, or federal loan eligibility.
  • This information is based on the current understanding as they relate to federal student financial aid and can be subject to change with little notice. We will continue to update this page as additional guidance is received from the U.S. Department of Education.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R.1) was signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. For students, families, and institutions like Northeastern State University, this bill results in significant changes to the federal aid (Title IV) programs. 

Current Rules prior to 2026-2027

  • Full-Time Academic Year Definition: To be considered full-time for the academic year
  • Undergraduate students: Must take 24 credit hours over the course of the fall and spring terms.
  • Graduate/Professional/Doctoral students: Must take 18 credits over the course of the fall and spring terms.
  • Half-time Enrollment: Students must be enrolled at least half-time in courses counting towards their degree to receive any Federal Direct Loan in any given semester. The minimum number of credits per semester to be considered half-time is:
  • Undergraduates: 6 credit hours
  • Graduate/Professional/Doctoral students: 5 credit hours
  • Loan Amount: A student can receive the full annual Federal Direct Loan amount as long as it is within their Cost of Attendance.
  • Award Calculation:

    Cost of Attendance  (COA)−Gift Aid  (grants/scholarships)- Federal Work-Study = Remaining eligibility  for loans

 

Changes Effective in 2026-2027

  • Full-Time Academic Year Definition (No change from the current rules): To be considered full-time for the academic year
  • Undergraduate students: Must take 24 credit hours over the course of the fall and spring terms (minimum of 12 hours in the fall/ 12 hours in the spring is considered full-time).
  • Graduate/Professional/Doctoral students: Must take 18 credits over the course of the fall and spring terms (minimum of 9 hours in the fall/ 9 hours in the spring is considered full-time).
  • Half-time Enrollment (No change from the current rules):  Students must be enrolled for at least a half-time load of financial aid-eligible classes to receive a Federal Direct Loan in any given semester. The minimum number of credits per semester to be considered half-time is:
  • Undergraduates:  6 credit hours
  • Graduate/Professional/Doctoral students: 5 credit hours
  • Less than Full-Time Enrollment: 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. This is called a Schedule of Reduction, or SOR change. Full-time enrollment is determined by term and by the academic year, whereas prior to this, the rules were limited to enrollment in a single term. The examples below outline how this works.
  • Award Calculation:

Cost of Attendance  (COA)−Gift Aid  (grants/scholarships)−  Federal  Work Study=Remaining eligibility  for loans

From here, multiply the less-than-full-time percentage (see below for this calculation) by the full-time annual loan eligibility to determine the less-than-full-time loan amount.

 

Less-than-full-time formula for loan eligibility:

This is effective for 2026-2027.

 

(number of credit hours enrolled for the academic year

÷

number of credit hours considered full-time for that academic year for the program of study)

× 100 =

Reduced Annual Loan Limit Percentage

 

 

This adjustment rule applies to all undergraduate, graduate, and professional 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.

Other Federal updates: