Will new loan limits lower the cost of grad school?

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made a lot of changes to the federal student loan system. One of those changes put a new cap on the amount of loans students in graduate school can take on. Today on the show, we explain the theory behind this change and how it could impact the broader labor market going forward.<br /><br /><strong>Related episodes: </strong><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/07/01/886346296/the-market-for-student-loans" target="_blank">The Market For Student Loans</a><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/18/1112145621/heres-why-black-students-are-defaulting" target="_blank">Here's why Black students are defaulting</a><br /><a href="http://npr.org/2025/04/25/1247139368/student-loans-ai-artificial-intelligence-tourism-economy" target="_blank">Student loans are back, U.S. travel is whack, and AI — please, step back</a><br /><br /><em>For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at </em><a href="http://plus.npr.org/" target="_blank"><em>plus.npr.org</em></a><em>.</em> <em>Fact-checking by </em><a href="https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez" target="_blank"><em>Sierra Juarez</em></a><em>. Music by </em><a href="https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank"><em>Drop Electric</em></a><em>. Find us: </em><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney" target="_blank"><em>TikTok</em></a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/" target="_blank"><em>Instagram</em></a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money" target="_blank"><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>. </em><br /><br />See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>