u/No_Trainer_8134

I attended part-time because it was the only realistic way I could continue.

Now, being a part-time student is the reason I cannot finish.

OBBBA allows some existing students to continue borrowing under the old rules through a “legacy” exception. But eligibility is based on the program’s expected completion time using a full-time schedule.

Because part-time students naturally take longer, many of us are effectively excluded.

I have now reached the new $100,000 federal graduate-loan limit. I cannot borrow the money needed to complete my remaining requirements.

I have to drop out.

I will leave without the degree, without eligibility for licensure, and without access to the career I spent years building toward. But I will still be responsible for repaying every dollar I borrowed.

That is what makes this so devastating: the law is taking away the future the debt was supposed to make possible while leaving the debt completely intact.

Why is a part-time student’s eligibility measured against a full-time timeline?

Why does the legacy protection exclude students who remained continuously enrolled?

How many students will be forced to drop out with debt but no usable degree?

And why is almost no one talking about this?

I am sharing my story because part-time students are being stranded in the middle of their education, and the public needs to understand what this law is actually doing to us.

I'm posting this because I don't think most current graduate students realize these changes even exist. Under OBBBA, students who qualified for the interim ("legacy") exception may only retain access to the old federal loan rules until their Expected Time to Credential (ETTC). There is growing concern that if ETTC is based on a program's published full-time completion time, students who have always been enrolled part-time could lose legacy eligibility before finishing their degree. For many students who rely on federal loans, that could mean being unable to finance the remainder of a program they began under completely different rules.

'm also hoping to hear from students at other universities. Has your school explained how it's calculating ETTC? Has anyone received a written determination or been told how part-time enrollment affects legacy eligibility? The more information we can gather, the better we can understand how these changes are actually being implemented.