Financial Aid

The Federal Direct PLUS (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students) loan is an optional federal loan program for parent(s) who wish to access additional resources beyond what a student is eligible to receive.  This credit-based parent loan option may cover up to the total Cost of Attendance (COA) as defined by PSU, minus student aid. The interest rate for a Federal Direct PLUS is 7.9% fixed.  Since the Federal Direct PLUS Loan is a federal loan, there are more benefits available versus a student alternative (private) loan.

Note: If you intend to either reduce or decline your Federal Work Study award to increase your eligibility for the Federal Direct PLUS loan, please submit your request at least a day prior to applying for the loan.

There is a loan fee of 4.204% of the principal amount charged for each Federal Direct PLUS Loan that you borrow.  The fee will be applied before you receive any loan money.

The PARENT is the only signer on this loan and is responsible for repayment.

An acceptable credit check, per government guidelines, is required to access this loan program.

Apply for a Direct PLUS loan by completing all (3) steps below:

Step 1: FAFSA: If not already done, complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online using your and your student’s Personal Identification Number (PIN) to electronically sign.

Step 2: Parent Loan Request Form:  Be sure to complete all boxes of this online form before clicking the “Submit” button located at the bottom of the Request form.  All borrowers, new and prior-year, must complete a new Parent Loan Request Form each time they wish to borrow.

Step 3: Master Promissory Note (MPN): This can be done online by signing into the StudentLoans.gov website (see top left-hand side of page) using your Federal Personal Identification Number (PIN) and following the link to ‘Complete Master Promissory Note‘. Parents who had a Federal Direct PLUS loan in 2012-2013 do not need to complete a new MPN.  Parents that either required an endorser on their MPN or were denied a DL PLUS loan in 2012-2013 will want to complete both the MPN and Request form for 2013-2014.

The PLUS application process takes approximately one week to complete once Plymouth State University receives confirmation that the three steps listed above have been electronically submitted.   PSU will begin sending DL PLUS certification requests to the Department of Education for the 2012-2013 academic year late June/early July.  If you have any questions or concerns before that, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Important notes:

Note (1):  If you do not already have a PIN,  you can go to www.pin.ed.gov, and you should receive it within three days via e-mail.

Note (2):  DO NOT use the link that says Start PLUS Application Process. This WILL NOT allow you to complete the necessary steps for the loan.

Note (3):  Your MPN is not considered complete until you reach the screen with the following message: Thank you for submitting the MPN.

Note (4):  You may view/download the PDF version of your completed MPN.

Ineligible to borrow a PLUS loan?

If parents are determined ineligible to borrow through the Federal Direct PLUS program, PSU will automatically increase Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loan eligibility. First and second year students are eligible for up to an additional $4,000 per year, while third through fifth year students are eligible for up to an additional $5,000 per year.  If the PLUS is subsequently approved, the additional unsubsidized student loan will be removed.

If a student does not wish to accept all or part of their Unsubsidized Direct Loan, they should contact the PSU Financial Aid Team.

Starting July 2011, as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, consumers who are rejected for student loans, automobile loans or credit card applications are entitled to receive a free copy of their credit score and an explanation of why they were turned down. The reasons can range from late payments to maxing out credit cards. Creditors are also supposed to explain where the score, known as FICO, ranks nationally, and outline the factors that brought the score down. (Chicago Sun-Times)

Parents who are determined ineligible for the Parent PLUS loan should contact Applicant Services at 800-557-7394 for an explanation of why they were declined.

Repayment of the PLUS

Repayment of the Direct PLUS Loan begins 60 days after the loan is fully disbursed for an academic year. However, if you’re a parent PLUS borrower who is also a student, you can defer repayment while you’re enrolled in school at least half time and (for Direct PLUS Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2008) for an additional 6 months after you graduate or drop below half-time enrollment.

As a parent PLUS loan borrower, you can defer repayment of Direct PLUS Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2008, while the student for whom you obtained the loan is enrolled at least half time, and for an additional 6 months after the student graduates or drops below half-time enrollment.  You must separately request each deferment period from your loan servicer.  Interest will continue to accrue on this loan during the deferment period; therefore, we recommend that you make your interest payments during this deferment period if at all possible.

Generally, you’ll have from 10 to 25 years to repay your loan, depending on the repayment plan that you choose. You can choose to repay your PLUS loan using the standard, extended, or graduated repayment plan. Read more about these repayment plans.

The loan servicer will notify you of the date your first payment is due. If you do not choose a repayment plan, you will be placed on the standard plan, with fixed monthly payments for up to 10 years. Most Direct Loan borrowers choose to stay with the standard repayment plan, but there are other options for borrowers who may need more time to repay or who need to make lower payments at the beginning of the repayment period.

You can change repayment plans at any time by contacting your loan servicer.

There are currently several different servicing agencies that your loan may be serviced through.  To verify who is currently servicing your loans, please visit http://www.nslds.ed.gov/ and choose ’Financial Aid Review.’  Press ‘Accept’ twice.  Log in using your social security number, first two characters of your last name, date of birth, and PIN that was issued to you from http://www.pin.ed.gov/.

Click on the number in the first column under ‘Loans’ for details regarding your loan.  Note: If you have more than one PLUS loan you will have to click on each number associated with each loan.  This will show the loan, the school you received the loan through, the disbursement amounts and dates, and it will also display the servicer agency information.  Sometimes a loan can be transferred to a different servicer.  Therefore, you will want to view the ‘Current Servicer’ listed to find out who is currently servicing your loans.  For any repayment inquiries regarding your loan, please contact the number listed under your current servicer.

Not sure how much your monthly payments will be? Use one of our repayment calculators to help you plan - FINAID.org or the Department of Education.

Note: The longer your loan is in repayment, the more interest you will pay. Calculations are estimates. Values may not reflect the actual amount computed by the Direct Loan Servicing Center.

Public Service Forgiveness

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 established a new public service loan forgiveness program. This program discharges any remaining debt after 10 years of full-time employment in public service. The borrower must have made 120 payments as part of the Direct Loan program in order to obtain this benefit. Only payments made on or after October 1, 2007 count toward the required 120 monthly payments. (Borrowers may consolidate into Direct Lending in order to qualify for this loan forgiveness program starting July 1, 2008.)   Read more information about Public Service Forgiveness eligibility.

Interest Rate Cap for Military Members

If a parent qualifies under the Service Members Civil Relief Act, the interest rate on loans obtained before entering military service may be capped at 6% during the parent’s military service. Parents must contact their loan servicer to request this benefit.

In addition, borrowers are not charged interest (for a period of no more than 60 months) on Direct Loans first disbursed on or after October 1, 2008, while a borrower is serving on active duty or performing qualifying National Guard duty during a war or other military operation or other emergency, and serving in an area of hostilities qualifying for special pay.

The Federal Student Aid Ombudsman of the Department of Education helps resolve disputes and solve other problems with federal student loans.  Please do not hesitate to contact them at 877-557-2575 should you feel they can be of assistance.