Starting next summer, graduate borrowers can only take out direct loans that have a lower borrowing cap. These are the new limits for graduate school borrowing: For graduate students: up to $20,500 per year; $100,000 total. For professional and medical students: up to $50,000 per year; $200,000 total.

Income-Based Repayment (IBR) bases the monthly payment on 15% of discretionary income, as opposed to the amount you owe. The repayment term is up to 25 years.