Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan

The Parent PLUS Loan is a federal Direct student loan available to parents of dependent undergraduate students.

Borrowing & Interest Rates

A parent may borrow up to the total of the Estimated Cost of Attendance minus resources and other financial aid. The interest rate on loans borrowed between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023 is 7.54%. The interest rate on loans borrowed between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024 is 8.05%. Interest is charged on the loan from the time the loan funds are disbursed until it is paid in full. The loan origination fee for loans borrowed between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2024 is 4.228%, and is deducted from your loan at the time of disbursement.

How to Apply

    1. File a FAFSA and submit any documents requested by our office to finalize the application process. A Financial Aid Notification listing all financial aid available to the student will be created and made available electronically. Parent PLUS Loan eligibility is calculated by subtracting the total amount of a student’s grant, scholarship, Work-Study, and loan funding from the overall cost of attendance.
    2. The student must electronically accept the Parent PLUS Loan offer on their Financial Aid Notification before the borrower submits a PLUS Loan application. If the full amount of the offer isn’t necessary, enter the desired amount in the Partial Amount box within the Financial Aid Notification.
    3. The parent borrower should go to the Department of Education website and sign in using their FSAID and password. Once logged in, find the drop down in the center of the page that reads “Loans and Grants.”
    4. Click on “PLUS loans: Grad PLUS and Parent PLUS” to begin the Parent PLUS Loan application.
    5. Select “Learn More” in the “I am a Parent of a Student” box.
    6. This will take you to the actual page where you may begin the Parent PLUS Loan Application.
    7. Press “Start”.

    1. Confirm you have not added a credit freeze to your credit accounts and press continue.
    2. Select the award year you would like to apply for the Parent Loan.
      • If you would like your PLUS loan applied to the 2022-2023 academic year, select “2022-2023” when asked for the award year.
      • If you would like your PLUS Loan applied to Summer 2023, select “2022-2023” when asked for the award year.
      • If you would like your PLUS loan applied to the 2023-2024 academic aid year, select “2023-2024” when asked for the academic aid year.

    3. Enter the student information for the student on whose behalf you are borrowing the loan.
    4. Add the School information by adding Illinois in state box and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the search by school name box.
    5. Select a loan amount and loan period option. For the requested loan period, use the following information.
      • 2022-2023 Fall/Spring Academic Year: 08/2022-05/2023 (The deadline to apply for this loan is May 3, 2023)
      • Fall 2022: 08/2022-12/2022 (The deadline to apply for this loan is December 7, 2022)
      • Spring 2023: 01/2023-05/2023 (The deadline to apply for this loan is May 3, 2023)
      • Summer 2023: 05/2023-08/2023 (The deadline to apply for this loan is June 23, 2023)
      • 2023-2024 Fall/Spring Academic Year: 08/2023-05/2024 (the deadline to apply for this loan is May 1, 2024)
      • Fall 2023: 08/2023-12/2023 (The deadline to apply for this loan is December 6, 2023.)
      • Spring 2024: 01/2024-05/2024 (The deadline to apply for this loan is May 1, 2024.)
      • Summer 2024: 02/2024-05/2024 (The Deadline to Apply for this loan is June 21, 2023)
    6. Select if you would like for the Direct PLUS Loan to be deferred while the student is in school.
      • If you select “Yes”, you will not have to begin repayment for the loan until after the student drops below half-time status or graduates.
      • Please keep in mind that the interest will continue to accrue on the loan even if you opt for deferment. You have the option to pay on the interest immediately or allow for it to be capitalized to the principal amount of the loan.
      •  If you select “No”, you will need to make the first payment on your Direct PLUS Loan within 60 days of the final loan disbursement for the loan period.
    7. Select if you would like a 6-Month Post-Enrollment Deferment of the Direct PLUS Loan.
      • If you select “Yes”, you will not have to begin repayment for the loan until 6 months after the student drops below half-time status or graduates.
      • If you select “No” here, but you requested a deferment while the student was enrolled in school (Step #8), you will need to make the first payment on your Direct PLUS Loan within 60 days after the date the student drops below half-time status or graduates.

Please note that if you later change your mind and wish to defer payments for an additional six months after the student drops below half-time status or graduates, you can request to do so at any time. You will need to contact your Direct PLUS Loan servicer to request this change.

    1. Select whether you would like to allow the school to use loan funds to pay for other charges (library fines, lab fees, health charges at McKinley etc.).
    2. Select how you would like to have any excess credit balances to be handled.

  1. Complete each page of the application process until you come to a Congratulations page indicating that you’ve completed the loan request and whether or not the credit has been approved.
  2. If the loan is approved and you would like to continue with the process, click the “Complete Loan Agreement (Master Promissory Note)” link in the center of your Dashboard. If you have completed an MPN for this same student and did not have an endorser on the previous MPN, you do not need to complete this step.
  3. Make sure to enter all required information and click “Submit” at the end of the MPN to ensure the information is electronically sent to the Direct Loan Servicing Center.
  4. The Office of Student Financial Aid will then certify borrower eligibility with the Direct Loan Servicer. This certification process begins around June 1 each year.
  5. If the PLUS loan was denied, you have 3 options:
    • You may get an endorser for the loan
    • You may appeal the decision
    • The student can seek an additional unsubsidized loan for the academic year. The student will make this request on their Financial Aid Notification via the “Request Changes” option at the bottom of their notification.

Receipt of Funds & Refunds

If credit is approved and an MPN has been completed, loan funds will begin to be disbursed one week before classes begin. The funds will be applied to tuition, fees, and other university charges, and any extra money will be refunded to either the student or parent, depending on what was indicated on the application. If the PLUS Loan process isn’t completed by the first disbursement, subsequent disbursements are scheduled twice a week up until the last week of each semester.

Application Denial

If a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan application is denied, the borrower may obtain a qualified endorser or it may be possible for a student to borrow an additional amount of unsubsidized loan. In this case, the dependent student’s annual maximum allowable loan limit will be replaced by the independent student maximum allowable loan limit at the same class level. If the application is denied, the student should access their Financial Aid Notification, select “Request Changes,” and ask to be re-packaged for additional unsubsidized loan funds.

Repayment

Repayment begins within 60 days of the final loan disbursement during the academic year. Principal and interest payments may be deferred if the borrower meets deferment requirements. In-school deferments may be requested by parent borrowers provided the student is enrolled at least half time in a degree-seeking program.

To learn more about available deferments and how to apply for deferment status, please contact your loan servicer. To find out which lender is servicing your loan, visit the National Student Loan Data System, log in using the parent borrower’s information, and select the number next to each loan for contact information.