Trends in Private Loan Borrowing Among Graduate and Professional Students

Since the Great Recession, the federal government has originated the vast majority of student loans, offering better terms, stronger protections, and more benefits to borrowers than private loans. However, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) signed into law in July 2025, made significant changes to the federal student loan system, with many of those changes likely to increase graduate students’ reliance on private loans. 

Our new fact sheet examines the private loan borrowing landscape for graduate students over the past 30 years and raises concerns that the OBBBA may drive more students into the risky private loan market or prevent them from obtaining graduate credentials altogether.