Likely helped
- No clear beneficiaries surfaced yet.
S. 308 (119th)Bill Overview
Graduate Opportunity and Affordable Loans Act
Education|EducationGovernment lending and loan guarantees
Sponsor
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Jan 29, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does
<p><strong>Graduate Opportunity and Affordable Loans Act</strong></p><p>This bill limits federal student loan borrowing for graduate and professional students.</p><p>Specifically, the bill terminates the ability of a graduate or professional student to receive a Direct PLUS Loan. Institutions of higher education (IHEs) must notify their prospective and enrolled graduate and professional students that Direct PLUS Loans terminate on June 30, 2025.</p><p>Additionally, the bill establishes the aggregate loan limit for Direct Unsubsidized Loans as $65,000 for a graduate student (in addition to the amount borrowed for undergraduate education) and $130,000 for a professional student (in addition to the amount borrowed for undergraduate education).</p><p>The bill allows IHEs to set lower loan limits.</p>
Why people may split
The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Watch point
The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.
<p><strong>Graduate Opportunity and Affordable Loans Act</strong></p><p>This bill limits federal student loan borrowing for graduate and professional students.</p><p>Specifically, the bill terminates the ability of a graduate or professional student to receive a Direct PLUS Loan.
Institutions of higher education (IHEs) must notify their prospective and enrolled graduate and professional students that Direct PLUS Loans terminate on June 30, 2025.</p><p>Additionally, the bill establishes the aggregate loan limit for Direct Unsubsidized Loans as $65,000 for a graduate student (in addition to the amount borrowed for undergraduate education) and $130,000 for a professional student (in addition to the amount borrowed for undergraduate education).</p><p>The bill allows IHEs to set lower loan limits.</p>
Passage38/100
This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.
CredibilityPartial
How solid the drafting looks.
Contention62/100
The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
02 · What it does
Who stands to gain, and who may push back.
Likely benefits vs burdens0% / 100%
Likely helpedLikely burdened
These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.
Likely burdened
- No clear downsides surfaced yet.
03 · Why people split
Why the argument around this bill splits.
The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Progressive—
The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Centrist—
The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Conservative—
The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
04 · Can it pass?
The path through Congress.
Introduced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Committee
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Floor
Still ahead
President
Still ahead
Law
Still ahead
Passage likelihood38/100
This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.
Why this could stall
- The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.
05 · Recent votes
Recent votes on the bill.
No vote history yet
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
06 · Go deeper
Go deeper than the headline read.
Included on this page
The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.
Unlocked analysis
Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for Graduate Opportunity and Affordable Loans Act.
Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.
Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
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