{"id":389249,"date":"2026-09-03T12:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T12:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/389249\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T12:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T12:05:08","slug":"financial-aid-changes-put-fiu-students-futures-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/389249\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial aid changes put FIU students\u2019 futures at risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sophia Baltodano | Staff Writer<\/p>\n

Financial aid changes from One Big Beautiful Bill<\/a> at Florida International University are creating uncertainty for students who rely on assistance to pay for college, with some students changing their course schedules, considering transferring, or finding alternative ways to finish their degrees.<\/p>\n

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law in July 2025, made changes to federal student aid for the 2026-27 academic year. The changes affect programs including Pell Grants and federal student loans, changing how much aid some students can receive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new loan limits starting in the fall 2026 semester for students pursuing a professional J.D. degree are an annual unsubsidized limit of $50,000, an aggregate limit of $200,000, and a lifetime limit of $257,500. The Grad PLUS annual limit has been eliminated.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, for graduate programs (LL.M., J.M., M.D.L.T.), the annual unsubsidized limit is $20,500, the aggregate limit is $100,000 and the lifetime limit for all federal loans is $257,500. The Grad PLUS loan has also been eliminated.<\/p>\n

As the new rules take effect, FIU students are adjusting their plans to manage the financial impact\u2013some of which force them to reconsider how they\u2019ll finish their degrees.<\/p>\n

For Elias Anzola, a junior studying biological sciences, the changes have already altered his plans.<\/p>\n

Anzola said he first heard about the financial aid changes during the spring 2025 semester and felt \u201chorrible and discriminated against,\u201d and was worried that the years of work he had put into his education could go to waste. As an out-of-state student, Anzola said the removal of his tuition waiver created an additional financial burden and he was forced to take a gap semester in fall 2025, enrolling in only one class during spring 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m actually enrolling at MDC to finish my degree since FIU is not a viable option anymore,\u201d Anzola said.<\/p>\n

Other students are also reconsidering how they will complete their degrees due to the financial stress of their classes.<\/p>\n

Katherine Harting, a Senior in FIU\u2019s accelerated Master of Architecture program (M.Arch), said the financial changes have been frustrating, even though she considers herself relatively financially stable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fairly solidly middle class, but like my parents possibly won\u2019t be able to retire because I\u2019m going to college with no aid,\u201d Harting said. \u201cI had no clue that there was going to be a jumping price and that I would get zero financial aid once I got into my master\u2019s courses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The situation has even led her to consider transferring to another university so she can graduate sooner and reduce the financial burden.<\/p>\n

Veronica Cores, a Senior in the same major, faces the same issue regarding her graduate program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel worried because I rely on financial aid to help pay for school, so any changes can make finishing my degree a lot harder financially,\u201d Cores said.<\/p>\n

Cores said the accelerated program makes the situation more difficult because she takes more credits and faces higher costs. However, she said she would rather adjust her course load if necessary to avoid postponing graduation instead of transferring schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWorst case I\u2019ll take out loans to make sure I can finish my degree on time,\u201d Cores said.<\/p>\n

Beyond the financial impact, students say they are also concerned about how much information is available about the changes. Anzola said students need more clarity about what the changes mean and how they could affect their education.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, I think people lack a lot of information about the situation and its impact on students,\u201d Anzola said.<\/p>\n

FIU\u2019s latest public announcement was sent out earlier this year so FIU\u2019s enrollment services have taken charge in issuing updates over the past two weeks. They\u2019ve been informing individual students about their circumstances and extended deadlines.<\/p>\n

PantherNOW contacted OneStop Financial Aid and was referred to the FIU Strategic Communications, Government, and External Relations department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Madeline Bar\u00f3, Senior Director of Media Relations, said \u201cWe are communicating with students who are impacted and have extended the payment deadline for those students. We are updating students\u2019 accounts as we receive and process all necessary information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Candela Maceda.<\/p>\n

About Post Author<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sophia Baltodano | Staff Writer Financial aid changes from One Big Beautiful Bill at Florida International University are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[155763,155764,225,227,226,115,155765],"class_list":["post-389249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-fall2026","tag-financialaid","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news","tag-news","tag-onebigbeautifulbill"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}