If you started your MBA this fall, you're financing it under different rules than the class ahead of you. As of July 1, 2026, the federal Grad PLUS loan program, which let graduate students borrow up to their full cost of attendance, was discontinued for new borrowers. In its place: fixed caps of $20,500 per year (up to $100,000 lifetime) for graduate programs, and $50,000 per year (up to $200,000 lifetime) for professional programs, according to the Department of Education's official loan limits page.

For many MBA students, those caps land below the actual cost of their program. That gap is real. But talk to students at different points in the MBA journey and you'll hear a similar thread running through their experiences: financing an MBA was never really a one-time decision, even back when Grad PLUS made it feel that way.

Financing an MBA without Grad PLUS

One Tuck '28 student and Forté Fellow is among the first class of students financing an MBA entirely without Grad PLUS as an option.

"I did a combination of applying for something I might have skipped otherwise, primarily scholarships and grants. I was fortunate enough to receive a small sum from an external program, but the bulk of my research was shopping for private lenders. I found a platform that let me compare offers from multiple lenders side by side, including one built around a group-negotiated rate for MBA students, so I signed up to use it."

They also found that financial aid offices sometimes pitch school-specific loan programs directly. In their case, that meant a Dartmouth Tuck loan at a fixed rate. And once they started comparing private lenders, they noticed details they hadn't expected to weigh: "Different lenders also have different repayment structures to think about. One lender might have pitched a 7-year repayment plan that would not have been available for another lender." Credit score mattered more than they expected, too. One lender they found explicitly required an 800+ score to qualify for its best rate, "something unique I didn't see amongst other lenders when I was shopping around."

Even with Grad PLUS available, some students looked beyond it

Sierra Davidson, Yale SOM '27 and Forté Fellow, had access to Grad PLUS when she financed her first year, and chose private financing instead.

"It definitely reinforces how important it was to compare my options rather than assume federal loans were automatically the best choice. Even with Grad PLUS available to me, I chose private financing because I was able to secure competitive terms that made sense for my situation. Seeing the class behind me navigate financing without Grad PLUS makes me appreciate having had that choice, but it also makes me more confident in the decision I made and in the value of understanding all of the financing options available."

Her experience is worth remembering now that the choice is gone for incoming students: even when Grad PLUS was available, it wasn't automatically the best option for everyone. Comparing terms mattered before the change. It just matters differently now.

McKenzie Snow, Darden '26 and Forté Fellow, has specific advice about pacing borrowing across the full two years:

"Frontload year one. Borrow more than you think you need, invest the extra, then scale back in year two. It's easier to borrow less later than to scramble for cash. And budget for the 6 to 8 months post-grad, since start dates almost always land later than expected."

It's a reminder that a financing decision made in business school isn't necessarily one decision at all. It can be a plan that spans both years and the months after graduation.

Advice from someone a year ahead

Sierra's advice for incoming students, now navigating this without the option she had:

"I'd tell incoming students not to panic, but to start exploring their options early and treat financing as a decision they can actively optimize. Compare lenders, rates, repayment terms, and benefits. And give yourself some financial cushion rather than budgeting down to the last dollar. Part of the value of an MBA is being able to fully participate in the experience, and being thoughtful about financing upfront gives you the flexibility to say yes to those opportunities."

Before you accept your disbursement

Every student's situation looks different: credit history, other funding sources, risk tolerance, and how much runway you want after graduation all factor in. And this is one of the more expensive decisions most people make in their twenties or thirties, not something to treat as settled the moment you sign. Even after signing, accepting your disbursement is a separate step, and it's worth pausing on.

A few things worth doing before you accept a disbursement, or before your next borrowing decision if this one's already behind you:

• Compare more than one lender's offer instead of taking the first one you're sent.
• Ask whether the rate is priced individually by credit or negotiated for a whole cohort. As students found, that distinction can matter more than the headline number, especially for students who haven't had much time to build credit.
• Check whether a cosigner is required, and what changes if you don't have one.
• Look for resources built specifically to help you compare, not just sell you one option: financing guides, rate calculators, and 1:1 advising can all surface tradeoffs a single lender's pitch won't.

The federal changes make all of this more visible this year, but the underlying idea isn't new. Financing an MBA rarely comes down to one source or one decision made once. Students navigating it well, whether they had Grad PLUS or not, are doing what smart borrowers have always done: comparing every option, asking real questions before committing, and treating the plan as something to keep adjusting rather than something locked in on day one.