Office of Financial Aid 

In addition to completing the FAFSA, students interested in federal and/or institutional funding must:

• Maintain satisfactory academic progress for their program.
• Be a U.S. citizen, be an eligible non-citizen with a valid social security number or have a Permanent Resident Visa.
• Be accepted for admission or enrolled at least half-time.
• Not be in default on any loan or owe a refund on any grant made under Title IV at any institution.
• Have financial need, which is the difference between the cost of attendance (COA) and the Student Aid Index (SAI) for most Geisinger College scholarships.
• Have a high school diploma, a GED or a passing “ability to benefit” test result.

Grants

A grant is a form of financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid. 

Scholarships

Scholarships help students pay for college. This type of free money, which is sometimes based on academic merit, talent or a particular area of study.

Loans

Many students use federal loans (must complete current year’s FAFSA). Students may also decide to apply for private loans.

GI Bill^® educational benefits

The GI Bill^® provides aid for military service members, veterans and military families  

Employee benefits

For nursing students, substantial support is available for Geisinger employees to obtain or advance their nursing education. 

Loans, debt management and financial planning

All students

• Return of Title IV funds policy (R2T4)
• Repayment plans
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness fact sheet 2024-2025
• Special circumstances form for students 2025-2026
• 2025 debt management resources
• Dependency status based on unusual circumstances 2025-2026
• Cohort default rate

Medical students

• Student rights and responsibilities – medical and graduate students
• Financial aid terms and conditions 2026-2027 – medical and graduate students
• Satisfactory academic progress for the MD program
• PA Residency-Appeal-Form-2025-2026. (This determines the tuition that is charged to the student and used to determine the cost of attendance when determining eligibility for aid.)
• Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine financial aid guidebook – 2025-2026

Graduate students

• Student rights and responsibilities – medical and graduate students
• Financial aid terms and conditions 2025-2026 – medical and graduate students
• Satisfactory academic progress for the School of Graduate Education
• School of Graduate Education financial aid guidebook – 2025-2026

Nursing students

• Student rights and responsibilities – nursing students
• Financial aid terms and conditions 2026-2027 – nursing students
• Satisfactory academic progress for the School of Nursing
• School of Nursing financial aid guidebook – 2025-2026

Default prevention

The Office of Financial Aid has a default prevention plan in place for students and graduates who may fall behind on loan repayment. Students are monitored to ensure timely loan repayment and letters can be sent to students who fall within the following categories:

1. 31-90 days delinquent
2. 91-120 days delinquent
3. 121-270 days delinquent

This gives students ample notification to reach out to the Office of Financial Aid and/or their Federal Loan Servicer for counseling advice and alternative options to keep their loans in good standing.

In addition, please refer to Loans, Debt Management and Financial Planning for additional information regarding borrowing, repayment options, deferment, forbearance, consolidation as well as loan forgiveness information and how to manage debt.

The Office of Financial Aid also offers individual sessions with our students to discuss budgeting, debt management, loan repayment options and strategies and ways to make college affordable. Reach out to our office for more information and assistance:

• Nursing students: nursingfinancialaid@geisinger.edu
• Medical and graduate students: financialaid@geisinger.edu
• Cohort default rate

Loan debt* 

Geisinger College of Health Sciences
Academic year 2023-24

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Total medical school debt (4 years of medical school) 
Percent of students with loans: 70%
Average student loan indebtedness: $222,910

School of Graduate Education
2023-2024 academic year**
Percent of students with loans: 77%
Average student loan indebtedness: $29,375

Geisinger School of Nursing
2023-2024 academic year**
Percent of students with loans: 74%
Average student loan indebtedness: $12,210

*Represents both federal and private loans.

**This reflects one academic year of debt and not the cumulative debt for the program of study.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law in 2025, impacts aspects of federal student aid and loan policies including federal loans, loan repayment and administration of the Pell Grant for the 2026-2027 academic year and beyond. The OBBBA introduces changes to financial aid that may affect associate, graduate and medical degree-seeking students.

Some provisions of the OBBBA took effect immediately upon enactment in July 2025, while major changes — including new changes to PELL eligibility calculation, the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) and revised loan options — are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026, when loan disbursements under the new rules will begin. The following information is provided to help students and families plan for these proposed changes. The Financial Aid Office is available to help students identify alternative sources of funding for their education. Check back often as information may change or be updated as the implementation dates approach.

View breakdown of changes from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Changes to the federal loan program

Graduate and medical students

Federal direct unsubsidized loans: Students entering their degree after July 1, 2026 

• $20,500 per year for graduate students, with an aggregate limit of $100,000
• $50,000 per year for medical students, with an aggregate limit of $200,000
• Lifetime borrowing (across undergraduate and graduate education) is capped at $257,500 on all federal student loans except for Parent PLUS

Graduate PLUS loans have been eliminated. Only students who qualify for the legacy provision (those who borrowed a Graduate PLUS loan before July 1, 2026, while enrolled in a credentialed program) may borrow a Grad PLUS loan for 3 academic years or the remainder of the program.

Undergraduate students

Parent PLUS loans

• $20,000 per year per dependent, up to 8 semesters
• $65,000 aggregate limit per dependent student (without regard to amounts forgiven, repaid, canceled or discharged)
• Borrowing the maximum $20,000/year:
• Year 1: $20,000
• Year 2: $20,000
• Year 3: $20,000
• Year 4: Only $5,000 remains within the $65,000 lifetime

Federal proration

Undergraduate student borrowing limits remain unchanged, but proration may apply if enrolled part-time. This may mean that part-time students would only be eligible for a portion of their annual loan limit. Schools calculate eligibility at the time of each disbursement. This proration framework helps maintain compliance with OBBBA, prevents over-borrowing and aligns loan funding with actual student engagement.

Federal loan repayment options

• Federal Direct loans with a first disbursement date on or after July 1, 2026, will be eligible for 2 repayment plans: a restructured Standard repayment plan with a repayment period ranging from 10 to 25 years, or a new income-driven Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) with a 30-year repayment period. This applies to first-time Direct loan borrowers and those who have already borrowed for their current programs.
• Borrowers with no new loans made on or after July 1, 2026, can continue to be eligible to enroll in the current Standard, current Income Based (IBR), Graduated and Extended repayment plans, and could also opt in to the new RAP. Current borrowers enrolled in ICR, PAYE or SAVE plans must transition to a new repayment plan by July 1, 2028. If no selection is made by that date, they will be moved into RAP.
• See repayment plans for new and current borrowers at studentaid.gov.
• Medical students can access the AAMC FIRST MedLoans Organizer and Calculator.

Pell Grant

Changes to Pell eligibility calculation go into effect July 1, 2026.

• Applicants with an SAI equal to or greater than 2 times the maximum Pell Grant amount for the award year will be ineligible for a Pell Grant. Based on the maximum Pell Grant amount, the SAI threshold for 2026-27 is $14,790; however, the SAI limit does not apply to dependents of certain deceased servicemembers and Public Safety Officers, under the Special Rule for Pell Grants.
• SAI asset calculation will now exclude the net worth of family-owned business with 100 or fewer full-time (or full-time equivalent) employees; farms on which the family resides; and commercial fishing business and related expenses, owned and controlled by a family.
• Foreign earned income exclusion amount reported on the FAFSA will be added to the adjusted gross income when determining Pell Grant eligibility.

Resources

• NASFAA: View Breakdown of Changes from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
• Federal student aid: studentaid.gov/announcements-events/big-updates 
• AAMC (medical students): aamc.org/ 
• AAMC FIRST (medical students): students-residents.aamc.org/financial-aid