Graduate and professional students borrowed $14.92 billion in Grad PLUS loans in the 2025-26 award year, the last full year before the program closes to new borrowers. The money went out at 1,754 schools. The 25 schools in the table below account for $4.15 billion, or 28% of the total.
Nova Southeastern University disbursed the most, $384.7 million, followed by New York University ($336.4 million) and the University of Southern California ($301.6 million). Two Caribbean medical schools whose U.S. students can borrow federal loans, St. George's University and Ross University School of Medicine, are in the top five.
Why Grad PLUS is ending
Public Law 119-21, the budget law signed in July 2025, ends Grad PLUS for new borrowers starting July 1, 2026. In place of Grad PLUS, graduate students get higher limits on Direct Unsubsidized Loans, capped at $20,500 a year and $100,000 in total for graduate programs, and $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total for professional programs such as medicine and law. There is a lifetime limit of $257,500 on federal student loans, not counting Parent PLUS.
Students who were already enrolled in a program on June 30, 2026, and had a Direct Loan disbursed for it, can keep borrowing under the old rules, including Grad PLUS, for up to three years or until they finish the program, whichever comes first. Everyone else will need to cover any gap above the new caps with savings, school aid or private loans.
Grad PLUS has no fixed borrowing limit; students can borrow up to the school's cost of attendance minus other aid. That is why schools with expensive professional programs dominate the list.
Largest Grad PLUS schools
| School | State | Type | Grad PLUS disbursed | Recipients |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Southeastern University | FL | Private-Nonprofit | $384.7M | 7,767 |
| New York University | NY | Private-Nonprofit | $336.4M | 5,924 |
| University of Southern California | CA | Private-Nonprofit | $301.6M | 6,142 |
| St. George's University, School of Medicine | – | Foreign-For-Profit | $273.9M | 3,257 |
| Ross University, School of Medicine | – | Foreign-For-Profit | $220.6M | 2,518 |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | Private-Nonprofit | $187.9M | 3,440 |
| Midwestern University | IL | Private-Nonprofit | $168.3M | 3,372 |
| Walden University | MN | Proprietary | $157.5M | 7,805 |
| Georgetown University | DC | Private-Nonprofit | $155.6M | 3,277 |
| Touro University | NY | Private-Nonprofit | $144.3M | 3,508 |
| Arizona State University | AZ | Public | $141.8M | 7,579 |
| Lincoln Memorial University | TN | Private-Nonprofit | $139.0M | 3,225 |
| Tufts University | MA | Private-Nonprofit | $129.0M | 2,194 |
| University of Miami | FL | Private-Nonprofit | $128.6M | 2,613 |
| Northwestern University | IL | Private-Nonprofit | $128.2M | 2,721 |
| Pepperdine University | CA | Private-Nonprofit | $127.8M | 3,128 |
| Western University of Health Sciences | CA | Private-Nonprofit | $126.4M | 2,110 |
| University of Pennsylvania | PA | Private-Nonprofit | $123.4M | 2,462 |
| A. T. Still University of Health Sciences | MO | Private-Nonprofit | $116.9M | 1,918 |
| American University of the Caribbean | – | Foreign-For-Profit | $113.2M | 1,248 |
| University of the Pacific | CA | Private-Nonprofit | $112.7M | 2,043 |
| Emory University | GA | Private-Nonprofit | $111.1M | 2,295 |
| Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine | – | Foreign-For-Profit | $110.3M | 1,530 |
| Boston University | MA | Private-Nonprofit | $108.5M | 2,102 |
| George Washington University | DC | Private-Nonprofit | $101.9M | 2,691 |
By type of school
Private nonprofit schools account for $9.28 billion, about 62% of the total, and public schools for $3.74 billion.
| School type | Disbursed | Share | Schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private-Nonprofit | $9.28B | 62.2% | 905 |
| Public | $3.74B | 25.1% | 493 |
| Foreign-For-Profit | $0.85B | 5.7% | 9 |
| Proprietary | $0.79B | 5.3% | 84 |
| Foreign-Private | $0.24B | 1.6% | 256 |
| Foreign-Public | $0.02B | 0.2% | 7 |
Amounts are Grad PLUS loans disbursed during the 2025-26 award year (July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026). Recipients are counted by each school, so a student who borrowed at two schools is counted twice; the 462,984 recipients summed across schools is an upper bound. Loans originated ($16.16 billion) are higher than loans disbursed because some approved loans had not been paid out or were cancelled. Schools are listed under the main campus OPE ID the Education Department uses, so branch campuses may be included. The CSV lists all 1,754 schools with disbursements.
Source
U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, Title IV Program Volume Reports, Direct Loan program, award year 2025-26 summary by school, downloaded October 24, 2026. U.S. government data in the public domain. Our tables are available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "Grad PLUS Loans by School, 2025-26," My Credit Guide, October 24, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/grad-plus-loans-by-school/.