Important Updates to Financial Aid and Scholarships for 2026-2027

You can complete your 2026-2027 FAFSA now at fafsa.gov.

The scholarship application is available. Don't forget to complete your application by the published deadline. Also, make sure to complete your FAFSA at fafsa.gov by January 20, 2026 for scholarship consideration.

At this time, your FAFSA status will not update to "Received" at BYU. We hope that you will be able to see if BYU has received your FAFSA by mid-December.

Beginning when grades post after winter 2026, the following changes to Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) will go into effect:

• Adjustments to a student's Maximum Timeframe Limit cannot be made for:
  
  • Transfer credits
  • Previous major credits
  • Credits toward a double major
• Graduate students will be subject to the 66.67% Completion Percentage (PACE) calculation, rather than the "Satisfactory" or "Marginal" status previously used as the standard.

Students with transfer hours, previous major credits, and a double major can visit with a counselor to discuss the possibility of petitioning the Maximum Timeframe Limit.

If you are required to complete tasks before your eligibility for federal aid can be determined, tasks will be placed on your My Financial Center by mid-December.

Parents of dependent students who do not have a Social Security Number must create a student aid.gov account (also known as an FSA ID) and fill out the contributor section of the FAFSA. The government has published instructions and FAQs about how to fill out the FAFSA if your contributor doesn't have an SSN.

The Graduate PLUS Loan program will be eliminated for new borrowers starting July 1, 2026.

Graduate students who borrowed federal loans (including Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans) prior to July 1, 2026, may continue to borrow Graduate PLUS Loans if they are continuing in the same program. This is allowed for up to three more years after July 1, 2026, or until they graduate from that program - whichever comes first.

• Parent PLUS Loans: Parents of dependent students who borrow PLUS Loans for the first time after July 1, 2026, can borrow up to $20,000 per school year per student. The maximum amount that can be borrowed for each student during their degree program will be capped at $65,000.

  Parents who borrowed PLUS Loans prior to July 1, 2026, can continue to borrow Parent PLUS Loans without being subject to these limits, for up to three years or until the student graduates from that program, whichever comes first.

• Unsubsidized loan limit for law students: Students enrolled in law school will be allowed to borrow up to $50,000 in unsubsidized loans each school year or up to their Cost of Attendance, whichever is lower.
• Lifetime federal loan limits: New federal borrowing caps for the length of a graduate or professional student's program will be in place.

Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loan amounts each semester will be prorated based on a percentage of full-time enrollment. If you attend less than full-time for a semester or term, you will receive only a portion of the loan eligibility you would otherwise have if you attended full-time.

The government has not yet released the proration amounts.

Students who receive grants, scholarships, and/or benefits from non-federal sources that cover their entire Cost of Attendance (COA) are ineligible to receive a Pell Grant, even if otherwise eligible for the program.