Financing-Gap Calculator

Grad PLUS died on July 1, 2026. New MBA borrowers can no longer cover the cost of attendance with federal loans. See exactly how much of your MBA is now yours to fund.

Target schoolAnnual cost of attendance (editable)

School's published single-student budget (2026-27). Published 9-month living budgets skew low; raise this if you know your city.

Program lengthCitizenship

Scholarship estimate

Total over the program.Savings + family funds

Employer sponsorship

Prior federal loans, or already enrolled before July 2026?

Outstanding federal student loans (all, incl. undergrad)

Counts against the $257,500 all-federal lifetime cap.…of which from graduate study

Counts against the $100,000 graduate aggregate cap.I had a federal Direct loan disbursed before July 1, 2026 for this same program (grandfathered: old Grad PLUS rules continue for up to 3 more academic years or program end; changing programs forfeits it)

No login required. Pure arithmetic; nothing you enter is stored.

What changed on July 1, 2026

Grad PLUS is gone

For two decades, grad students could borrow federal money up to the full cost of attendance. New borrowers can't anymore; the program was eliminated for loans after July 1, 2026.

MBA = graduate, not professional

The higher $50,000/yr professional cap covers ~11 fields: medicine, law, dentistry, and similar. Business school is not one of them. MBAs get the graduate cap: $20,500/yr.

The gap is six figures

$41,000 of federal loans against a $215K-290K two-year M7 bill leaves $175K+ to fund from scholarships, savings, sponsorship, or private debt.

Already enrolled with a federal loan disbursed before July 1, 2026? You may be grandfathered into the old rules; use the expander above. Rates and rules last verified 2026-07-11. Educational estimates only, not financial advice.