New loan changes make NO sense for U.S. students to attend a Caribbean med school

With the new federal student loan changes going into effect July 1, 2026, unless you're rich, U.S. students have NO business going to a Caribbean med school. I am a recent Saba grad with $325,000 in student loan debt, and this was AFTER receiving a scholarship.

Federal loans are capped at $200,000 for med school. However, there is also a lifetime federal borrowing limit of $257,000 for all loans (undergrad, grad, med school).

And if you already have previous med school debt, that amount counts toward the $200,000 limit. This is going to affect transfer students the most, so if you're currently enrolled and taking out loans, do not even think of transferring. Students who are currently enrolled and remain active are exempt from these changes until June 2029.

I am sure schools are going to offer scholarships to almost everyone who applies to get them in. If you fail a semester and repeat, you're going to be charged full tuition, as scholarships don't apply to repeat semesters. In addition to the loan cap, there is also a new yearly cap of $50,000. So you can't borrow more than $50k per academic year.

Even though I've been off the island for a year now, I have friends at different schools, and the cost of living has gone up because of the war. Electricity and groceries are very expensive, and for those who rent a car, gas is $6.66/gallon right now!

Why anyone would take out a private loan and have a co-signer for an international school, and that too with Sallie Mae, is a very dumb decision.

Do WHATEVER you can to improve your application, and apply DO if your stats aren't good for MD. There are so many new DO schools, and while they're not cheap either, at least you'll be stateside and a U.S. grad.

Total tuition as of June 26, 2026 for some schools:

SGU: $377,000
ROSS: $360,462
AUC: $322,000
SABA: $298,750
SMU: $279,860
AUA: $253,050