For the 2024–2025 academic year, the interest rates are:
- 8.08% for Direct Unsubsidized Loans.
- 9.08% for Direct Graduate PLUS Loans.
Loan Limits for Medical Students
Federal lending for medical school is generally split into two tiers:
- Direct Unsubsidized Loans: Medical students can typically borrow up to $40,500 per year. This is higher than the standard graduate limit of $20,500 due to the health professions' supplemental amount. There is a lifetime (aggregate) limit of $224,000 for these loans.
- Direct Graduate PLUS Loans: After exhausting Unsubsidized loans, students can borrow Graduate PLUS loans up to the school's total Cost of Attendance (including tuition, fees, and living expenses) minus any other financial aid received. There is no aggregate (lifetime) limit for Graduate PLUS loans.
Impact of High Parental Income
While your parents' income will not prevent you from getting federal loans, it will affect other types of aid:
- Need-Based Aid: You will likely be ineligible for need-based institutional scholarships or low-interest "Health Professions Student Loans" (HPSL), which do require parental financial data.
- Subsidized Loans: Federal Direct Subsidized loans are not available for any graduate or professional students, regardless of income.
Important 2026 Changes
Note that starting July 1, 2026, new legislation (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) is scheduled to change these limits significantly:
- The Graduate PLUS program will be eliminated for new borrowers.
- Total federal borrowing for medical students will be capped at $50,000 per year and $200,000 total for the program.
Answer
A medical student can borrow up to the full cost of attendance(tuition plus living expenses) through federal loans regardless of parental income, with current fixed interest rates of 8.08% for Unsubsidized loans and 9.08% for Graduate PLUS loans.
A medical student can borrow up to the full cost of attendance(tuition plus living expenses) through federal loans regardless of parental income, with current fixed interest rates of 8.08% for Unsubsidized loans and 9.08% for Graduate PLUS loans.
