A legacy student is a student who is currently enrolled and has retained pre-OB3 loan eligibility. To be a legacy student, you must:

• Be enrolled in a program of study as of June 30, 2026;
• Receive a Direct Loan disbursement for the same program of study prior to July 1, 2026;
• Remain enrolled in your current program of study; and
• Be within your expected time to credential.

Undergraduate legacy students are subject to the pre-OB3 Parent PLUS Loan rules that do not cap the annual or lifetime amounts for up to the lesser of either 3 years or their calculated expected time to credential.

Graduate legacy students can participate in the Graduate PLUS Loan program for the lesser of 3 years or their expected time to credential and are not subject to the OB3 aggregate loan limits.

Students may not opt out of the legacy borrower status if they otherwise qualify.

However, all students, legacy and non-legacy, are subject to the Schedule of Reduction (SOR) rules which require loans to be prorated if enrolled less than full-time.

Expected time to credential is defined as the published program length minus the semesters or credit hours enrolled in your program.

Legacy students retain their pre-OB3 eligibility for the lesser of three years, or their published program length minus time enrolled.

The published program length is defined as the minimum amount of weeks, months, or years required for a full-time student to complete a degree.

• An undergraduate bachelor’s degree has an expected time to credential of 4 years.
• A graduate master’s degree has an expected time to credential of 2 years.

Examples:

• If you are entering the 3rd year of a 4-year undergraduate program and are a legacy student, then you retain your legacy status for 1 more year.
  • If you change your major and require additional time to complete your undergraduate degree beyond the 4 years, you may lose your legacy status in the 5th year.
• If you are entering the 2nd year of a 2-year graduate program and are a legacy student, then you are in the final year of your eligibility.

Transfer credit hours and high school coursework being accepted toward your degree requirements can affect your calculated expected time to credential, as can attending part-time.

No, but withdrawn credit hours do. Please see the below listed examples.

A prorated student loan is an adjustment that reduces the maximum federal loan amount. This happens if you attend school for only part of an academic year (such as graduating in December) or are enrolled part-time instead of full-time.

For example, an undergraduate student who is enrolled in 7 credit hours in the fall term will have their loans prorated. Since full-time enrollment is 12 credit hours, the enrolled credit hours are divided by the full-time enrollment and then multiplied by the loan eligibility amount.

7 credit hours ÷ 12 credit hours = 58% (rounded to the nearest whole number)

Then multiply the percentage by the semester loan amount:

$2,750 x 58% = $1,595

A student who would normally have $2,750 in federal loan eligibility (half of $5,500) can only receive $1,595 federal direct loan funding when enrolled in 7 credit hours.

In many cases, no further adjustment is required because there are no remaining direct loan disbursements for that academic year. However, if you later receive another direct loan disbursement during the same academic year (such as for summer enrollment), the previous enrollment reduction may affect that loan amount.

Graduating in the fall. Students graduating in fall and therefore only attend one semester will have separate loan proration completed based on other federal regulations.

New spring students. Students attending only one term are subject to a single-term Schedule of Reduction (SOR) calculation. Federal regulations first determine the portion of the annual loan limit available for the single term and then apply any required reduction based on enrollment.

If your enrollment changed after your fall direct loan was disbursed, federal regulations require the University to review your enrollment before your next disbursement. For example, if you dropped classes during the fall semester, your spring direct loan may be reduced to reflect your updated academic year enrollment.

No. SOR is required by federal law and must be applied to all eligible direct loan borrowers.

Changing your enrollment may affect the following:

• Your future direct loan eligibility
• Your remaining annual loan eligibility
• Your eligibility for other financial aid programs
• Your expected out-of-pocket costs

Before dropping, withdrawing from, or adding courses, students are strongly encouraged to speak with an academic advisor and financial aid counselor. Together, they can help you understand both the academic and financial impact of changing your enrollment.

Contact the Financial Aid Office at (660) 785-4130, at finaid@truman.edu or go by their office in McClain Hall 103 (open Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm).

Yes. However, starting in the 2026–2027 academic year, new limits apply.

Parents will be capped at $20,000 per year with a lifetime maximum limit of $65,000 in PLUS borrowing per student. This replaces the previous ability to borrow up to the full cost of attendance, minus other financial aid.

If both parents borrow on behalf of the same student, their combined borrowing is capped at $20,000 per year with a lifetime maximum limit of $65,000 (without regard to amounts forgiven, repaid, cancelled or discharged).

Legacy provision for parent borrowers:  If the student has borrowed a federal direct loan or the parent has borrowed a Parent PLUS loan before July 1, 2026, the parent is eligible to borrow under the pre-OB3 loan limits (up to the cost of attendance, minus other financial aid) for the remainder of the student’s program or three years, whichever comes first. The student must remain continuously enrolled in their current program. If they take a break in enrollment, the parent will be considered a new borrower and subject to the new loan limits.

No. For an undergraduate student to borrow additional unsubsidized loan funds, the parent must be credit denied for the Parent PLUS Loan or otherwise ineligible to apply for the loan. A parent reaching the aggregate borrowing limit does not make the student eligible for additional unsubsidized direct loan funding.

If you lose your legacy status, your parent will be subject to the new limitations and all prior borrowed Parent PLUS loans will count towards the $65,000 overall limit. For example, if you have 2 years of legacy eligibility remaining, and your parent has borrowed $60,000 already, and then you lose your eligibility, your parent may only borrow an additional $5,000.

Yes. Starting in the 2026–2027 academic year, students will no longer be eligible for a Pell Grant if their Student Aid Index (SAI) is greater than twice the maximum Pell Grant award for that year. Pell Grant award amounts will continue to vary based on income and family size, but there is a firm cutoff tied to the annual Pell Grant maximum.

The maximum Pell Grant amount for 2026-2027 is $7,395. Therefore, students with a SAI of 14,791 or higher are not eligible for the Pell Grant.

Students with non-federal aid (i.e., aid received from private scholarships, institutional funding, State grants, etc.) equal to or exceeding the estimated cost of attendance cannot also receive a Pell Grant.

Nothing will happen immediately if your federal direct loan funds have already disbursed to your student account, but there may be a reduction in federal loan eligibility in the next semester, depending on your enrollment.

Beginning with the 2026–2027 award year, direct loan amounts for students enrolled less than full-time for the academic year will need to be reduced. This is referred to as the Schedule of Reduction (SOR). Full-time enrollment is determined by semester and by the academic year, whereas, prior to OB3 regulations, the rules were limited to enrollment in a single term.

This reduction is made at the next scheduled disbursement in the aid year.

Example (individual scenarios and eligibility may vary):

• A first year undergraduate student is enrolled in 12 credit hours for the fall term and registers in 12 credit hours for the spring term.
• The maximum loan amount is $5,500 Unsubsidized Direct Loan.
• Half the amount, $2,750, is disbursed for fall. Later in the term, the student drops a class and is enrolled in only 9 credit hours for fall.
  • No reduction to the direct loan is made for fall because the student was enrolled in 12 credit hours at the time of loan disbursement.

Prior to the spring loan disbursement, the Schedule of Reduction (SOR) is calculated.

• 9 earned credit hours for fall + 12 enrolled credit hours for spring = 21 credit hours
• 24 credit hours is full-time enrollment for the academic year (12 credit hours for fall + 12 credit hours for spring)
• 21 credit hours ÷ 24 credit hours = 88% (rounded to the nearest whole number)
  • The student can only receive 88% of the eligible loan amount because their overall enrollment is 88% of full-time enrollment.
• 88% x $5,500 = $4,840
• $4,840 is the new annual loan amount.
• The loan amount the student received for fall must be subtracted from the new annual loan amount.
  • $4,840 – $2,750 disbursed for fall = $2,090 new spring eligibility

Please be advised that federal loans have an origination fee and net funds disbursed to the student account will be slightly less than what is accepted.

Nothing happens as long as you maintain continuous enrollment (do not withdraw or have a break in enrollment). Changing your undergraduate major or minor does not affect legacy status.

Beginning in the 2026–2027 academic year, new federal loan limits will apply to non-legacy graduate students. Graduate students will be limited to $20,500 per year in Unsubsidized Direct loan funds and a new lifetime cap on graduate-level borrowing of $100,000 which does not include amounts borrowed as an undergraduate.

If a student borrowed federal loan funds before July 1, 2026, and is enrolled in the same program of study with continuous enrollment, they are considered a legacy student and remain eligible for the pre-OB3 loan limits ($20,500 per year and $138,500 aggregate) for the remainder of their expected time to credential. Changing their program or interrupting their enrollment will affect their eligibility.

Your enrollment is reviewed at the time of loan disbursement. Your loan eligibility will be reviewed and adjusted proportionate to your enrollment.

Example (individual scenarios and eligibility may vary):

• Graduate student enrolls in 9 credit hours for fall and 6 credit hours for spring. Total credit hours for the academic year are 15 (9 + 6).
• Full-time enrollment is 9 credit hours per semester or 18 credit hours for the academic year.
• 15 credit hours ÷ 18 credit hours = 83% (rounded to the nearest whole number)
  • The student can only receive 83% of the eligible loan amount because their overall enrollment is 83% of full-time enrollment.
• 83% x $20,500 = $17,015
• $17,015 is the new annual loan amount.
• The new annual loan amount is proportioned by the enrollment in each semester:
  • Fall (9 credit hours-full-time) = $10,250
  • Spring (6 credit hours-part-time) = $6,765

Students enrolled in less than 6 credit hours are not eligible for Federal direct loans.

Please be advised that federal loans have an origination fee and net funds disbursed to the student account will be slightly less than what is accepted.

A change of graduate program is likely to revoke your legacy status. You will be subject to the new aggregate borrowing limit and ineligible for future Graduate PLUS loans.