Grad school just got a 30-year sentence with interest
30 years — that’s the new “forgiveness” timeline they’re floating, which is a cute way to say your grad degree comes with a mortgage that can’t be refinanced and follows you like a cursed doll.
Reportedly, the government is set to eliminate Graduate PLUS loans for new borrowers starting July 1, 2026. That’s the program that lets grad students borrow up to the full cost of attendance when scholarships, savings, and “my parents love me” money don’t cover it.
Translation
if you were planning on law school, med school, an MBA, or basically any graduate program that costs more than a used Honda, the funding spigot is getting welded shut.
At the same time, repayment is getting funneled into fewer options, and forgiveness gets stretched out to 30 years. Not “we’re making things simpler,” but “we’re making you pick between a smaller menu of pain.”
Translation
they’re calling it reform, but it’s austerity with better fonts.
Citizens Bank (yes, the bank) is waving the flag on this one, which is like hearing a shark politely remind you there’s blood in the water. If Grad PLUS disappears, private lenders get a fresh buffet of stressed-out 24-year-olds signing promissory notes like it’s a Terms of Service they didn’t read.
The Number
360 payments — that’s 30 years of monthly bills, or roughly the time between “I got into grad school!” and “my kid is also applying to grad school, god help us.”
This isn’t just a policy tweak; it’s a life-plan rewrite. People will delay school, pick cheaper programs, or take on private debt with rates that treat “dream job” like a pre-existing condition.
The Bottom Line
They didn’t fix student debt — they just turned grad school into a subscription you’ll die still paying for.
TLDR
They’re reportedly nuking Grad PLUS in 2026 and swapping it with fewer repayment choices and 30-year “forgiveness,” aka congrats on your degree, here’s your lifelong bill.
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