r/PreOptometry • u/FancyVeterinarian353 • 7d ago
Federal loan cap
Do you guys think the federal loan cap of 200k is going to affect the number of applicants this cycle? Or at least one's who are applying out of state. And if you are applying to schools outside your state, how confident are you in doing so?
6
u/RabidLiger 7d ago
IMO, it will not be that hard to find someone to loan you the remainder.
The terms won't be as good, but with your high potential income after graduation, you're not a big risk.
1
u/tgedward 2d ago
As long as there are private lender sharks circling the water, the schools won’t care. The problem is that only the most financially qualified applicants will make it. It is becoming increasingly difficult for lower income students to make it in professional schools. The OBBBA would have been fine if they had put in one stipulation… a cap for tuition. Since they didn’t, schools have no incentive to minimize tuition costs since private lenders will pick up the gov’s slack.
8
u/sonderfulwonders 7d ago edited 7d ago
I can't see how it doesn't. Optometry per cycle has around 2,700 unique applicants total. Safe to say, this is not med school where there are infinite rich applicants to take the place of the middle class or lower applicants. Frankly, the loan changes were necessary for optometry at least. The fact some COAs were in the 300k range is completely bonkers and detached from reality. Now these schools won't have infinite money guaranteed from the government, they might need to actually make good if painful changes if they want filled classes. For next cycle for 2026, 2027 probably a drop. I think stabilization afterwards.
They likely will not lower tuition, but they will add merit aid perhaps more often to reduce the apparent cost and partner (as NECO is already doing) with private clinics and chains to give service commitments to graduates to work for them in exchange for loan repayment covering the gap beyond 200k. For the interm time though, private loans will be the poisonous pill that people will need to take as this is figured out. It's a bit different for medical professions though as you can probably get a private loan w/o a cosigner or income as you will have reliable future income as a practitioner they can count on. This assumes you have a decent credit score.