Loan Estimate Examples & Calculator
Changes Effective in 2026-27
Full-time academic year definition (No change from the current rules)
To be considered full-time for the academic year:
- Undergraduate students must take 24 credit hours over the course of the fall and spring terms.
Half-time enrollment (No change from the current rules)
Students must be enrolled for at least a half-time load of financial aid-eligible classes to receive a Federal Direct Loan in any given semester/quarter. The minimum number of credits per semester to be considered half-time is:
- Undergraduates: 6 credit hours
Less than full-time enrollment
Starting with the 2026–27 award year, which begins with the Fall 2026 semester, Direct Loan amounts for students who are not full-time for the full academic year will need to be adjusted. This is called a Schedule of Reduction, or SOR change. Information provided by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) indicates that less-than-full-time enrollment in one semester may affect loan eligibility in another, rather than just the semester in which it occurred, but the examples released by ED are not comprehensive enough to fully outline how this will work in every enrollment scenario.
Award calculation:
Cost of attendance (COA) - Gift Aid (grants/scholarships) - Federal Work Study = Remaining Loan Eligibility
From here, multiply the less-than-full-time percentage (see below for this calculation) by the full-time annual loan eligibility to determine the less-than-full-time loan amount.
Less-than-full-time formula for loan eligibility:
(Number of credit hours enrolled for the academic year
÷ number of credit hours considered full time for that academic year and for that program) x 100 = Reduced annual loan limit percentage
This adjustment rule applies to all undergraduate Direct Loan borrowers, utilizing Direct Subsidized Loans, and/or Direct Unsubsidized Loans. Even those considered legacy borrowers who have borrowed from any of these loan programs prior to July 1, 2026, are subject to this rule.
Because this rule only impacts student borrowing, the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan is not subject to these adjustments for less-than-full-time study.
EXAMPLE: Undergraduate student award offer (new rule calculation)
Let’s say you’re a Dependent Freshman who can borrow up to $5,500 in student loans for the school year. You plan to take 12 credit hours in the fall and 12 credit hours in the spring, which makes you a full-time student (full-time = at least 12 credits each semester), and no adjustment is required.
That means:
- Full-time for the year = 24 credits (12 fall + 12 spring)
- Your loan normally comes in two equal payments:
- Fall: $2,750
- Spring: $2,750
What happens when you enroll less than full-time for the aid year
Let’s say you’re a Dependent Freshman who can borrow up to $5,500 in student loans for the school year. You plan to take 9 credit hours in the fall and 12 credit hours in the spring, which makes you a less-than-full-time student (full-time = at least 12 credits each semester), which means an adjustment is required.
Percentage of full-time you’re completing
(21 ÷ 24) x 100 = 87.5%; rounded to 88%
This means you are scheduled to complete 88% of the credits needed to be considered full-time for the combined fall and spring terms.
How this affects your loan
Because you’re only completing 88% of the needed credits, you can only receive 88% of your $5,500 loan limit:
$5,500 x 0.88 = $4,840
You will receive $2,074 in the fall, and you will receive $2,766 for the spring.
What happens when you drop a class
If you drop from 12 credits to 9 credits in the fall AFTER your loan is already disbursed, the fall loan does not have to be reduced.
Before giving you the spring portion of the loan, HACC must verify how many credits you are actually going to finish for the combined fall and spring terms.
Your new plan for the year:
- Fall: 9 credits
- Spring (expected): 12 credits
- Total: 21 credits
Originally, full-time for the year was 24 credits, but now you’ll only have 21 credits.
Percentage of full-time you’re completing
(21 ÷ 24) x 100 = 87.5%; rounded to 88%
This means you are scheduled to complete 88% of the credits needed to be considered full-time for the combined fall and spring terms.
How this affects your loan
Because you’re only completing 88% of the needed credits, you can only receive 88% of your $5,500 loan limit:
$5,500 x 0.88 = $4,840
You already received $2,750 in the fall.
So, for spring, you can only receive:
$4,840 – $2,750 = $2,090
Even if you take 12 credits in the spring, your spring loan is limited to $2,090 because your total enrollment for the year dropped.
How you could still get the full spring loan
If you take 15 credits in the spring, then your total for the year becomes:
- Fall: 9 credits
- Spring: 15 credits
- Total: 24 credits
Now you’re back to completing a full-time year.
That means you can get the full $2,750 for spring.
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Disclaimer: These estimates are for planning purposes only and do not guarantee final eligibility. Actual aid may vary based on enrollment, grade level, dependency status, cost of attendance, SAI, other aid, aggregate loan limits, loan origination fees, and federal eligibility requirements. If you plan to attend only one semester during the academic year, your loan eligibility may be calculated differently, and the estimates provided by this calculator may not accurately reflect your federal student loan eligibility. Please contact the Financial Aid Office for assistance via the Financial Aid Inquiry Form.
