For Graduate Students Needing Financial Aid: Stay Informed, Stay Prepared
Juno Team
Jan 28, 2025
What You Need to Know First
Recent headlines about federal funding pauses do not affect Federal Student Loans or Pell Grants, according to the U.S. Department of Education. If you rely on federal aid for graduate school, your current funding remains secure.
Why Proactive Planning Matters
While today’s funding is stable, proposed legislation (like the College Cost Reduction Act) could reshape graduate student financing as soon as July 1st, 2025.
- Key Risk: Legislation may end the Grad Plus loans (used by 440K+ students last year) and introduce lifetime borrowing caps for Unsubsidized Direct loans
- Future Uncertainty: It’s also possible that a situation like this morning, where access to Federal loans was in doubt, could happen again
How Juno Protects Your Options
With 7 years’ experience fighting for students, we’re building safety nets – not replacing federal loans. Here’s our approach:
We’ll Always Advocate for Federal Aid
Federal loans are the best option for most students and we'll never suggest using a private loan unless it's necessary or significantly cheaper.
Help us Create a Backup Option through a Union for Loans
We use the power of collective bargaining to negotiate lower student loan rates with lenders.
How it Works:
- Until May 1st, students fill out a brief form to join a negotiation group, based on graduation date.
- On May 1st, we invite lenders to compete with each other based on rates
- On June 1st, we make the best offer available to those seeking loans for Fall 2025
Joining is free and does not obligate students to take a loan. We never share your information.
We need your help–the larger the group gets, the more negotiating leverage we have with lenders.
Join the Fall 2025 Negotiation Group
Photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash
Join the Fall 2025 Negotiation Group
Photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash
Written By
Juno Team
Juno came into existence to help students save money on student loans and other financial products through group buying power by negotiating with lenders. The Juno Team has worked with 200,000+ students and families to help them save money.