School of Medicine

Financial Aid

Tufts University School of Medicine's Office of Financial Aid serves all students in the MD and MD/combined degree programs, Public Health programs, Professional Degree programs, Nutrition programs, and Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences programs.

The intent of the financial aid programs at the School of Medicine is to assist students with meeting any shortfall that exists after a maximum effort has been made by the student and his/her family to pay for school-related costs.

The Office of Financial Aid is here to assist you. You can reach our financial aid advisors by email and phone from Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM. We encourage you to schedule an appointment if you would like to meet with your designated financial aid advisor at a specific time.

Financial Aid advisors are available to answer questions and to provide assistance.

Federal Financial Aid Changes Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OB3)

In July 2025, Congress enacted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OB3), a major federal budget law that includes significant changes to the federal student loan and financial aid systems. Most of the provisions will take effect for loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026.

What Is Changing

New Federal Loan Limits for new borrowers

OB3 establishes new borrowing limits for federal student loans:

  • Graduate PLUS Loans will be eliminated for new borrowers after July 1, 2026.
  • Graduate and Professional Direct Unsubsidized Loan limits are changing to:
    • Graduate annual limit: $20,500; lifetime: $100,000
    • Professional programs: annual $50,000; lifetime $200,000

Physician Assistant (PA) and Physical Therapy (PT): A federal court has temporarily paused a portion of the U.S. Department of Education’s professional degree definition under the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) rule. While a final ruling is pending, Physician Assistant (PA) and Physical Therapy (PT) students who are ‘new borrowers’ have temporary access to higher "professional program" loan limits.

While accessing these elevated annual and aggregate loan limits offers immediate financial flexibility, there is some potential risk that should be carefully considered. Students who borrow at the higher professional limits may exceed loan limits if the programs revert to a graduate-level classification. Exceeding these caps may restrict or eliminate eligibility in future semesters.

  • Combined Lifetime limits of $257,500 for all federal loans will apply. The lifetime limit includes any and all Title IV loans borrowed by the student to date regardless of program (i.e. Federal Perkins, Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loans/FFEL, Graduate PLUS Direct Loans/FFEL). Additionally, it includes all amounts borrowed regardless if repaid, canceled, forgiven, or otherwise discharged.

Note: Eligible legacy borrowers may continue to access Graduate PLUS Loans and Unsubsidized Loans under the current limits. See information regarding legacy students below for more information.

Legacy Borrowing Protections for some current borrowers

You may be considered a ‘legacy student’ if you meet all of the following:

  • Continue to be enrolled in the same program as of June 2026, attending the same school AND
  • Are currently borrowing or previously borrowed a Direct Unsubsidized Loan while enrolled in this program AND
  • Have no future lapse of enrollment (including withdrawal or LOA) as of 7/1/26 until you complete the program AND
  • Do not change programs

As a ‘legacy student’, you may continue to have access to both Direct Unsubsidized and Graduate PLUS loans. This will include:

  • Having access to current Direct Unsubsidized annual loan limits
    • MD students: $42,722 - $47,167
    • MPH students: $33,000
    • All other grad students (including PA and PT): $20,500
  • Having the same aggregate (lifetime) limits for Direct Unsubsidized loans
    • MD & MPH students: $224,000
    • All other grad students: $138,500
  • Having access to Direct Graduate PLUS loans until you complete your program or for a maximum of 3 years or until you reach Estimated Time to Completion (ETC) - more information below.

Expected time to Completion (ETC)

Eligible students may remain as a legacy borrower for the lesser of 3 years or until they’ve reached the expected time to completion. To determine the ETC, the standard Published Program Length (for full-time students regardless of enrollment) less any term the student was enrolled.

Example: 4-year MD program

Fall 2022 – enrolled                    Spring 2023 – enrolled

Fall 2023 – enrolled                    Spring 2024 – enrolled

Fall 2024 – not enrolled              Spring 2025 – enrolled

Fall 2025 – LOA                          Spring 2026 – enrolled

This student would be eligible for one remaining semester of legacy status in Fall 2027. The semester which they were not enrolled (Fall 2024) does not count against the 4-year program length. However, the semester they went on a LOA (Fall 2025) does count against remaining ETC. Eligibility would appear as:

Fall 2026 – Legacy borrower      Spring 2027 – New Borrrower

As a reminder, those who are no longer considered a legacy borrower will have no longer be able to borrow a GradPLUS loan. They may be eligible to borrow Unsub Direct Loans if they’ve not borrowed more than the aggregate Unsub limit and the lifetime maximum limit.

Enrollment Status and Loan Eligibility - All borrowers

OB3 introduces changes to how enrollment impacts federal loan eligibility regardless of legacy or new borrower status. Students attending for less than a full year and/or attending less than full-time in any given semester will likely require federal loan eligibility to be reduced. Half-time students may only have access to 50% of their full-time eligibility. Students must still be enrolled at least half-time to be eligible for any federal loans.

Retroactive adjustments for prior semesters may be required should a course withdrawal occur at any point during the term. This could result in a balance owed which federal loans will not be able to resolve. Students should carefully consider changes to enrollment including withdrawals.

What This Means for Tufts Medical and Graduate Students

Because these changes will affect how much students may borrow through federal loan programs after July 1, 2026, it’s important to plan ahead:

  • Understand future federal borrowing limits: New annual and lifetime loan caps may reduce the amount of federal aid available.
  • Consider the impact of withdrawals/leaves of absences: Current students who withdraw or take a leave of absence will no longer be considered a legacy student. Upon return they will be considered new borrowers and may have Unsubsidized Loan eligibility based on new limits and previous borrowing but will not have access to Graduate PLUS Loans.
  • Review your credit profile: Students should consider reviewing their credit reports and learning how credit history may affect eligibility, interest rates, and terms for private student loans, which may become a more important financing option under OB3.
  • Learn about private loan readiness: Understanding and reviewing your credit score and securing multiple co-signers will help students prepare if additional funding is needed.

The U.S. Department of Education continues to issue guidance related to OB3 implementation. Tufts Office of Financial Aid will share updates as more details become available.

Important Disclaimer: The content on this page is provided for informational purposes to assist Tufts students in understanding federal student aid programs and related changes. This information reflects our current interpretation of available federal guidance but does not represent official federal policy. Students and families should consult official U.S. Department of Education resources for authoritative information. Please visit StudentAid.gov for the most current guidance.

For additional resources published by Federal Student Aid (FSA) and national associations, please visit: