Loan proration

How loans are adjusted for less than full-time enrollment

Current Rules Before July 1, 2026 (2025-2026 academic year)

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 Semester students must take 16 credit hours over the course of the fall and spring terms
  • Graduate Quarter students must take 18 credits over the course of the fall, winter, and spring terms.

Half-time enrollment
Students must be enrolled at least half-time in financial aid-eligible classes to receive a Federal Direct Loan in any given semester or quarter. The minimum number of credits per semester/quarter to be considered half-time is:

• • Undergraduates: 6 credit hours
  • Graduate Semester: 4 credit hours
  • Graduate Quarter: 3 credit hours

Loan amount: A student can receive the full annual Federal Direct Loan amount as long as their financial aid eligibility allows them to do so.

Award calculation: 

Cost of attendance (COA) - Gift Aid (grants/scholarships) - Federal Work Study = Remaining Loan Eligibility

EXAMPLE: Undergraduate student award offer (current rule calculation)

• • • Full-time Cost of Attendance (COA): $80,382
    • Grants: $15,959
    • Scholarships: $38,000
    • Federal Work Study: $2,000
    • Remaining Eligibility: $24,423

This student has $24,423 of eligibility remaining before reaching the full Cost of Attendance.

Congress set the maximum annual Federal Direct Loan limit based on a student’s grade level.

For this example, the student is a Dependent Freshman with a maximum annual limit of $5,500. Since the student has $24,423 in remaining eligibility, they can receive the full $5,500 in a Direct Loan. Factors such as the Student Aid Index (SAI) will determine how much of the loan is subsidized versus unsubsidized, but the overall amount is capped at $5,500 per year.

If the student dropped from a full-time (12+ credit hours) load of financial aid eligible classes in the fall to three-quarter time (9-11 credit hours), the student could still keep the entire $5,500 as long as the adjusted COA would leave enough remaining eligibility to do so. In most cases, it would.

Changes Effective in 2026-27

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.
    • Graduate Semester students must take 16 credit hours over the course of the fall and spring terms.
    • Graduate Quarter students must take 18 credits over the course of the fall and spring terms.

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/quarter. The minimum number of credits per semester to be considered half-time is:

• • • Undergraduates:  6 credit hours
    • Graduate Semester: 4 credit hours
    • Graduate Quarter: 3 credit hours

Less than full-time enrollment
Starting with the 2026–27 award year, which beings with the Fall 2026 semester/quarter for most programs, 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. Information provided by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) indicates that less than full-time enrollment in one semester may affect loan eligibility in another, rather than just the semester in which it occurred, but the examples released by ED are not comprehensive enough to fully outline how this will work in every enrollment scenario.

Award calculation:

Cost of attendance (COA) - Gift Aid (grants/scholarships) - Federal Work Study = Remaining Loan Eligibility 

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:

(Number of credit hours enrolled for the academic year
÷ number of credit hours considered full time for that academic year and for that program) x 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. 

Because this rule only impacts student borrowing, the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan is not subject to these adjustments for less-than-full-time study.

EXAMPLE: Undergraduate student award offer (new rule calculation)

Let’s say you’re a Dependent Freshman who can borrow up to $5,500 in student loans for the school year. You plan to take 12 credit hours in the fall and 12 credit hours in the spring, which makes you a full time student (full time = at least 12 credits each semester).

That means:

• • • Full-time for the year = 24 credits (12 fall + 12 spring)
    • Your loan normally comes in two equal payments:
      • Fall: $2,750
      • Spring: $2,750

What happens when you drop a class

If you drop from 12 credits to 9 credits in the fall AFTER your loan is already disbursed the fall loan does not have to be reduced.

Before giving you the spring portion of the loan, Loyola must verify how many credits you are actually going to finish for the combined fall and spring terms.

Your new plan for the year

• • Fall: 9 credits
  • Spring (expected): 12 credits
  • Total: 21 credits

Originally, full time for the year was 24 credits, but now you’ll only have 21 credits.

Percentage of full-time you’re completing

(21 ÷ 24) x 100 = 87.5%

This means you are scheduled to complete 87.5% of the credits needed to be considered full time for the combined fall and spring terms.

How this affects your loan
Because you’re only completing 87.5% of the needed credits, you can only receive 87.5% of your $5,500 loan limit:

$5,500 x 0.875 = $4,813 (rounded)

You already received $2,750 in the fall.

So for spring, you can only receive:

$4,813 – $2,750 = $2,063

Even if you take 12 credits in the spring, your spring loan is limited to $2,063 because your total enrollment for the year dropped.

How you could still get the full spring loan

If you take 15 credits in the spring, then your total for the year becomes:

• • Fall: 9 credits
  • Spring: 15 credits
  • Total: 24 credits

Now you’re back to completing a full time year.

That means you can get the full $2,750 for spring.

EXAMPLE: Graduate semester student award offer

Let’s say you’re a Graduate student in the School of Education who can borrow up to $20,500 in student loans for the school year. You plan to take 6 credit hours in the fall and 6 credit hours in the spring, which makes you a less than full time student (full time = at least 16 credits each semester).

Percentage of full-time you’re completing

(12 ÷ 16) x 100 = 75%

This means you are scheduled to complete 75% of the credits needed to be considered full time for the combined fall and spring terms.

How this affects your loan

Because you’re only completing 75% of the needed credits, you can only receive 75% of your $20,500 loan limit:

$20,500 x 0.75 = $15,375

You would receive your loan amount in two payments:

• • • Fall: $7,688
    • Spring: $7,687

How you could still get the full spring loan

If you take 10 credits in the spring, then your total for the year becomes:

• • Fall: 6 credits
  • Spring: 10 credits
  • Total: 16 credits

Now you’re back to completing a full time year.

That means you can get the full $10,250 for spring.