Table of contents
- Enrollment Status
- Example 1: Planned Part-time Enrollment for Undergraduate
- Example 2: SOR Reduction for Drop/Withdrawal (unplanned part-time enrollment) – Undergraduate
- Example 3: Planned Part-time Enrollment – Graduate
- Example 4: SOR Reduction for Drop/Withdrawal (unplanned part-time enrollment) – Graduate
The Working Families Tax Cut Act (H.R.1), formerly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) introduced significant changes to federal aid programs for students applying for federal aid with the 2026-27 FAFSA.
These changes were effective July 1, 2026
Enrollment Status
Full-Time Enrollment
- Brenau undergraduate students: must take 24 credits over the course of the fall and spring terms.
- Brenau Graduate students: must take 12 credits over the fall and spring terms or 18 credits over the fall, spring, and summer terms if summer enrollment is required for your program.
Half-time Enrollment
Students must be enrolled in at least a half-time basis to receive Federal Direct Loans in a single semester
- Brenau Undergraduate students: 6 hours
- Brenau Graduate students: 3 hours
Less than Full-Time Enrollment
Beginning with the 2026-27 Academic Year, Federal Direct Loans for student not enrolled full-time for the entire academic year will need to be adjusted based on the federal Schedule of Reduction (SOR). Unlike previous academic year, enrollment will now be measured for both the individual term and the academic year. Prior to H.R 1, enrollment was only measured by terms.
Students should be very careful when making enrollment changes, as a SOR reduction
after a loan has disbursed can result in a student receiving substantially less than they were
anticipating in subsequent semesters.
Example 1: Planned Part-time Enrollment for Undergraduate
In this example let’s consider the eligibility for an undergraduate senior planning to take 8 credits per semester. As a senior, their full-time Federal Direct Loan Eligibility is $7,500.
If they were to enroll in 8 credits per semester, their annual enrollment would be 16 credits.
Based on the SOR calculation, their reduced annual loan limit percentage would be:
(16/24) x 100 = 67%
Based on the SOR calculation, their less than full-time loan eligibility would be:
$7,500 x 67% = $5,025
This means they would be eligible for $2,512 per semester at 8 credits enrollment. (Full-Time eligibility would be $3,750/semester)
This example also applies for graduate students if they were instead to use the graduate loan limit and full-time credit requirement for their program.
Example 2: SOR Reduction for Drop/Withdrawal (unplanned part-time enrollment) – Undergraduate
In this example let’s consider the eligibility for an undergraduate senior planning to take 12 credits per semester. As a senior, their full-time Federal Direct Loan Eligibility is $7,500.
After the semester starts, however, they unexpectedly had to drop one of their fall courses after their fall loans had disbursed. This unexpected change in enrollment would result in less than full-time enrollment as a W grade does not count towards full-time enrollment under then new H.R. 1. rules.
This change in enrollment would result in a reduction to the loans they can receive in the spring based on the SOR calculation:
New Academic Year Enrollment – 21 credits
(21/24) x 100 = 88%
Less than Full-Time Loan Eligibility
$7,500 x 88% = $6,600
How this impacts Spring Loan Eligibility
Since this student already had a full-time loan amount disbursed for the fall ($3,750), the full time amount must now be subtracted from the new less than full-time annual eligibility.
$6,600 – $3,750 = $2,850
This means that the student in this example would only be eligible for $2,850 in Federal Direct Loans in the spring, due to the change in Fall enrollment to less than full-time.
Example 3: Planned Part-time Enrollment – Graduate
In this example, let’s consider the eligibility for a graduate student planning to take 3 credits per semester.
If they enrolled in 3 credits per semester, their annual enrollment would be 6 credits.
6 credits per semester is considered full-time enrollment for most school/colleges. So, their reduced annual loan limit percentage would be:
(6/12) x 100 = 50%
The annual Direct Unsubsidized Loan eligibility is $20,500 for most full-time graduate students. Based on the SOR calculation, their less than full-time loan eligibility would be:
$20,500 x 50% = $10,250
They would be eligible for ~$5,125 per semester at 6 credit enrollment.
Example 4: SOR Reduction for Drop/Withdrawal (unplanned part-time enrollment) – Graduate
In this example let’s consider the eligibility for a graduate student planning to take 6 credits per semester where summer is not required. As a graduate student, their full-time Federal Direct Loan Eligibility is $20,500.
After the semester starts, however, they unexpectedly had to drop one of their fall courses after their fall loans had disbursed. This unexpected change in enrollment would result in less than full-time enrollment as a W grade does not count towards full-time enrollment under then new H.R. 1. rules.
This change in enrollment would result in a reduction to the loans they can receive in the spring based on the SOR calculation:
New Academic Year Enrollment – 9 credits
(9/12) x 100 = 75%
Less than Full-Time Loan Eligibility
$20,500 x 75% = $15,375
How this impacts Spring Loan Eligibility
Since this student already had a full-time loan amount disbursed for the fall ($10,250), the full time amount must now be subtracted from the new less than full-time annual eligibility.
$15,375 – $10,250 = $5,125
This means that the student in this example would only be eligible for $5,125 in Federal Direct Loans in the spring, due to the change in Fall enrollment to less than full-time.
These adjustments apply to all undergraduate, graduate, and professional student Direct Loan borrowers with Direct Subsidized, Direct Unsubsidized, and/or Graduate PLUS loans (even those considered legacy (or interim exception) borrowers who borrowed prior to July 1, 2026). This is only for students, so Parent PLUS loans are not subject to these adjustments.