How Access to Federal Student Loans Could Change under the College Cost Reduction Act

Earlier this year, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) proposed the College Cost Reduction Act (CCRA), a broad set of reforms to federal higher education programs that includes new limits on what students can borrow in the student loan program. The bill, which was approved in committee in January 2024 and now awaits consideration before the full House, replaces the current set of annual student loan limits that vary by students' circumstances and sets the limits to the national median cost of attendance by program of study. The bill eliminates the Parent and Grad PLUS loan programs that allow parents of dependent undergraduates and graduate students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance at each institution, with no total limit. The CCRA also establishes new total borrowing caps: $50,000 for undergraduates and $100,000 and $150,000 for graduate and professional students, respectively.