The U.S. Department of Education makes available Direct Parent PLUS Loans to parents that want to borrow a loan in their name to fund their student’s education. Parents will need to complete a separate Parent PLUS Loan application each academic year that they would like to utilize a Parent PLUS loan. Through the application parent(s) will be able to:
- Request a Direct PLUS Loan
- Request an amount for the loan
- Change the amount of a Direct PLUS Loan you previously requested
- Authorize how the school may use your Direct PLUS Loan funds to pay for educational expenses
- Designate who the school pays any credit balance to
- Request deferment of repayment while the student is in school and for up to 6 months after.
The Office of Financial Aid will receive your application information directly from the Department of Education once submitted and approved.
Things to keep in mind prior to applying for a Parent PLUS Loan.
- Applicants need to be the biological or adoptive parent (or in some cases, the stepparent) of a dependent undergraduate student enrolled at least half-time at an eligible school.
- There is a credit check performed for each application completed. For this reason, we recommend requesting a loan for the year. If the credit check shows that the applicant has an adverse credit history, you may have the option to provide endorser information to the application. Students who inform the Office of Financial Aid of a parent’s denied application can potentially receive additional Federal Direct Unsubsidized loan funds.
- The origination fee for 2023-24 is 4.228%.
- The fix interest rate for 2023-24 is 8.05%
- The maximum PLUS loan amount that can be borrowed is the cost of attendance minus any other financial aid awards that the student has received. Students can view their cost of attendance on their financial aid offer in their financial aid portal.
- A Master Promissory Note needs to be completed prior to the loan being disbursed.
- Borrowers can request a deferment of their payments while the student is enrolled at least half-time and for an additional six months after the student graduates.
Loan Disbursement & Cancellation
Once the loan(s) has been approved, the Direct Parent PLUS Loan(s) will be available for disbursement, no earlier than 10 days before the start of the term. Funds will be released only after enrollment and satisfactory academic progress have been verified.
These funds are normally payable in two equal disbursements minus the origination fee. The first half will be disbursement on the first day of the fall semester; the second half will be disbursement on the first day of the spring semester. Any delay created by missing requirements for the loan process or documents required by the Office of Financial Aid will result in a delay in the disbursement of a student’s aid.
Disclosure statements regarding loan amounts, deducted fees and funds transferred will be sent to the parent borrower by the Department of Education by email and mail.
The loan funds will disburse directly to the Student Accounts Office within three business days of receipt from the Federal Government, where the funds will be applied directly towards a student’s balance. Direct Parent PLUS loan(s) will not be officially deducted from a student’s billable charges until the loan has disbursed.
- If a student’s billable charges have already been paid in full and the loan creates a credit balance, the Student Accounts Office will issue a refund to the parent borrower or the parent can request through the Student Accounts Office that the credit be applied towards the upcoming Spring Semester.
Muhlenberg Student Accounts Office will mail a notification letter to the student's permanent mailing address on file, when funds are credited to their account. The notification will indicate the type of loan, amount(s) and that the parent borrower has the right to cancel the loan within 14 days of receiving the notification letter.
Loan Cancellation
Parent borrowers have the right to cancel all or part of your Direct Parent PLUS Loan disbursement for the award year or for each semester. Parents can email the Office of Financial Aid at [email protected] to request that our office declines or reduces the loan(s) on their behalf. We will need this request in writing.
The request to cancel loan(s) needs to be completed prior to 10 days before the start of classes. Once the loan has been disbursed for the term, you must follow the procedures described below.
Cancellation Request After Disbursement
If a parent’s Federal Parent PLUS Loan(s) have disbursed but they wish to cancel the loan(s), they must submit a written request to the Office of Financial Aid within 14 days from the date they received official notification from our Controller’s Office that loan funds have credited to the student’s account, or before the first day of classes, whichever occurs last.
- A written request may be submitted by email from the parent’s e-mail used on the application, handwritten, typed or printed statement bearing an original signature submitted by mail, in person or by fax.
- No interest will be charged and loan fees will be returned to the loan holder.
- Cancelling your loan disbursement could cause a balance to be due which the student will be responsible for paying. This is especially true if the student has received a bookstore voucher or the parent borrower has received a refund due to excess funds (credit balance) on the student’s account.
The Office of Financial Aid is unable to cancel loans that have been disbursement and the designated time period described above has already passed. However, parents can repay the loan disbursement directly by contacting the loan lender. In this case the parent borrower will be responsible for any interest that has accrued and the origination fee.
