Yes, you can use the FAFSA for grad school, and in fact it is the only way to reach federal student loans and federal work-study once you move past your bachelor’s degree. The aid package looks different from what you saw as an undergraduate: no subsidized loans, no Pell Grant in almost all cases, and — for anyone who becomes a new borrower on or after July 1, 2026 — new annual and lifetime caps on how much you can borrow from the federal government.1U.S. Congress. H.R. 1 – 119th Congress – An Act to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Title II of H. Con. Res. 14 You still have to file every year you want aid.
What Federal Aid the FAFSA Unlocks in Grad School
The main tool is the Direct Unsubsidized Loan. Interest starts building on the day the money is disbursed, so you owe every dollar of interest that accrues while you are still in class. For loans first disbursed between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026, the fixed rate is 7.94%.2Federal Student Aid. Interest Rates for Direct Loans First Disbursed Between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026 An origination fee is deducted from each disbursement, so the amount that lands in your student account is a bit less than the amount you owe.
Federal Work-Study is also on the table at the graduate level. If your FAFSA shows financial need and your school participates, you may be offered part-time employment, often connected to your field. Earnings are paid to you directly rather than credited against tuition.
Pell Grants are the main thing you lose. Once you hold a bachelor’s or first professional degree — even one from an unaccredited or foreign school — you are not eligible. The single narrow exception: if you are enrolled at least half-time in a post-baccalaureate teacher certification program that does not lead to a graduate degree, at a school that does not itself offer a bachelor’s in education, you may still qualify for a Pell Grant for the period needed to finish the program.3Federal Student Aid. Student Eligibility for Pell Grants
How Much You Can Borrow
Direct Unsubsidized Loans let a graduate student borrow up to $20,500 per academic year.4Federal Student Aid. How Much Money Can I Borrow in Federal Student Loans? What sits above that number depends on when you first borrowed.
New Borrowers on or After July 1, 2026
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act ended the Grad PLUS Loan program for new borrowers as of July 1, 2026, and split federal borrowing into two tracks with hard lifetime ceilings.1U.S. Congress. H.R. 1 – 119th Congress – An Act to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Title II of H. Con. Res. 14
- Graduate students in master’s and non-professional doctoral programs: up to $20,500 per year, capped at $100,000 over a lifetime.
- Professional students in medical, law, dental, veterinary, and similar professional degree programs: up to $50,000 per year, capped at $200,000 over a lifetime.
With Grad PLUS gone, there is no federal option to borrow beyond those ceilings. If your program costs more than the cap, the gap has to close with savings, employer help, scholarships, or private loans.
Existing Borrowers and the Older Rules
If you already had PLUS Loans before July 1, 2026, those loans and their terms are unaffected. Under the pre-July 2026 rules, Grad PLUS carried a fixed rate of 8.94% and an origination fee of 4.228% for fiscal year 2026 disbursements, and could cover the remaining cost of attendance after Direct Unsubsidized was maxed out.2Federal Student Aid. Interest Rates for Direct Loans First Disbursed Between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 20265Federal Student Aid (FSA) Knowledge Center. FY 26 Sequester-Required Changes to the Title IV Student Aid Programs The general aggregate limit on combined Direct Loans (including any undergraduate borrowing) was $138,500.6Federal Student Aid. Volume 8, Chapter 4 – Annual and Aggregate Loan Limits PLUS Loans required a credit check; Direct Unsubsidized Loans do not.
Health Professions Carve-Out
Under the older rules that still apply to students who began borrowing before July 2026, certain accredited health profession programs qualified for higher annual Direct Unsubsidized limits and a $224,000 aggregate limit:6Federal Student Aid. Volume 8, Chapter 4 – Annual and Aggregate Loan Limits
- An additional $20,000 per year (annual total of $40,500) for allopathic and osteopathic medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, podiatric medicine, and naturopathic medicine.
- An additional $12,500 per year (annual total of $33,000) for Doctor of Pharmacy, Doctor of Chiropractic, doctoral clinical psychology, and graduate programs in public health or health administration.
For new borrowers starting in July 2026, the professional-student track ($50,000 per year, $200,000 aggregate) replaces these older limits.
Who Qualifies and What the FAFSA Asks
The biggest change from your undergraduate FAFSA is dependency status. Graduate and professional students are automatically independent for federal aid purposes, which means the form does not ask for your parents’ income or assets. Eligibility rides on your own financial picture.7Federal Student Aid. Graduate and Professional Funding Information
Beyond that, the basic requirements are:
- U.S. citizenship or eligible non-citizen status, with a valid Social Security number.
- Enrollment or acceptance at least half-time in a degree or certificate program at a school that participates in federal student aid.7Federal Student Aid. Graduate and Professional Funding Information
- Satisfactory academic progress under your school’s standards. Grad programs typically require a minimum GPA (often 3.0), completion of at least two-thirds of attempted credits, and finishing your degree within 150% of the program’s expected length.
Before you file, set up an FSA ID at studentaid.gov. That username and password signs the form and follows you through repayment. You will also need the Federal School Code for each school you want to receive your data. Have these ready:
- Your Social Security number, and Alien Registration number if applicable.
- Your federal tax return and W-2s for income.
- Records of assets such as savings, checking, and investment balances.
The IRS and the Department of Education now transfer your federal tax information into the FAFSA in real time rather than asking you to type it in.8Internal Revenue Service. Tax Information for Federal Student Aid Applications Confirm that the imported figures are right, and enter the non-tax items (like asset values) yourself.
Deadlines and What Happens Next
The federal deadline for the 2026–2027 FAFSA is June 30, 2027, at 11:59 p.m. Central Time, with corrections accepted through September 12, 2027.9Federal Student Aid. FAFSA Application Deadlines Individual schools and states often set earlier priority deadlines, and limited funds like work-study go faster, so filing early matters.
Once you submit, you get a confirmation page. The Department of Education then emails a Student Aid Report summarizing what you reported and flagging anything that needs fixing. Your data also goes to the financial aid office at every school on your list, and each school builds its own award letter around its cost of attendance.
Repayment and Forgiveness After You Graduate
Graduate borrowers have access to several income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, which set your monthly payment against your income and family size rather than your balance. The plans currently available are Income-Based Repayment, Income-Contingent Repayment, and Pay As You Earn.10Federal Student Aid. Top FAQs About Income-Driven Repayment Plans Grad PLUS Loans held by existing borrowers are also eligible for IBR, ICR, and PAYE. The SAVE Plan is no longer available; the Department of Education reached a settlement agreement to end the program and move SAVE borrowers into other repayment plans.11U.S. Department of Education. U.S. Department of Education Announces Agreement with Missouri to End the SAVE Plan
Under any IDR plan, the remaining balance is forgiven after 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments, depending on the plan. Public Service Loan Forgiveness offers a faster route: your remaining Direct Loan balance is forgiven after 120 qualifying monthly payments while you work full-time for an eligible employer, generally a government agency or nonprofit.12Nelnet. Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) You have to be on an accepted repayment plan, usually an IDR plan, for those payments to count, and filing an Employment Certification Form each year helps keep your count accurate.
Tax Notes You Should Know
Not every dollar of graduate funding is tax-free. Scholarships and fellowships used for tuition and required fees at an eligible school are generally excluded from taxable income. Any portion used for room, board, or travel is taxable, and amounts paid as compensation for teaching or research required by the award are also taxable.13Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 421, Scholarships, Fellowship Grants, and Other Grants Payments through the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program, the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program, or a comprehensive student work-learning-service program at a work college get a limited exception.
Once you enter repayment, you can deduct up to $2,500 per year in student loan interest from your federal taxable income, without having to itemize.14Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 456, Student Loan Interest Deduction For the 2025 tax year the deduction phases out between $85,000 and $100,000 of modified adjusted gross income for single filers, and between $170,000 and $200,000 for married couples filing jointly. Given the interest rates on graduate loans, that write-off can be worth real money in your early repayment years.