Direct Loans: Schedule of Reductions (SOR)

Enroll full-time, stay full-time

NEW FOR 2026-27: Your Enrollment Level Affects Your Federal Student Direct Loan Eligibility.

  • Beginning with the 2026–2027 academic year, annual Federal Direct Student Loan amounts will be determined by the number of units in which you enroll. This new Department of Education policy is referred to as the Schedule of Reduction (SOR) for loans. If you enroll less than full time, your loan eligibility will be reduced based on the number of units you are enrolled.
  • SOR applies to any undergraduate, graduate, or professional students enrolled less than full time who have accepted out a Federal Direct Subsidized, Unsubsidized or Graduate PLUS student loan for that academic year. NOTE: Parent borrowers and Parent PLUS loans are not subject to SOR enrollment requirements.
  • At UC Irvine, full-time enrollment is defined as a minimum of 36 units taken for the fall and winter and spring terms combined, or 12 units per term. You must enroll in, and stay enrolled in, 36 units per academic year (fall and winter and spring terms) to qualify for the maximum amount of federal student loan eligible.
  • If you are enrolled less-than-full time for the academic year at the time your loan is disbursed for a term, your loan amount will be reduced for that term. UC Irvine assumes all students will be enrolled full-time.
  • If you drop to less-than-full time after your loan has disbursed for a term, your loan disbursement amounts for any subsequent term later in that same academic year will be adjusted, even if you drop or withdraw after that term’s add/drop or census dates.
  • Adding additional units in future terms (i.e., enrolling in more than 12 units for a term) can restore some or all of the loan eligibility that was lost in a prior term for being enrolled less-than-full time. For example, if a student was enrolled in only 8 units in the Fall term, they could enroll in 16 units in the Winter term and 12 units in the Spring term to meet the annual 36 unit full-time requirement for that academic year.