Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loans

A Federal Direct Graduate PLUS loan is an unsubsidized loan available to graduate students.

Who can apply for a Graduate PLUS loan

• You must attend at least half-time (3 hours)
• You must have good credit history. (If you have weak credit you may be eligible with a credit-worthy co-borrower or by documenting extenuating circumstances)
• You must complete the FAFSA

How is the PLUS loan repaid?

• Repayment begins 60 days after you receive all the loan funds for the academic year, although you can defer loan payments until you fall below a half-time enrollment status.  
• The repayment term is up to 10 years
• There is no grace period. Interest starts when the first payment is made   

How much can you borrow with your PLUS loan?

With a PLUS loan, you can borrow up to the cost of attendance minus any other financial aid awarded.

Interest Rate

For the 2008-2009 school year, the interest rate is 7.9%.

Origination fee of 4%, reduced to 2.5%

In addition to charging interest, PLUS loans also charge a 4.0% origination fee. The fee comes out of the first funds you receive from your loan. However, you will receive a 1.5% fee rebate, instantly. This reduces the fee to 2.5% but you must make your first 12 loan payments on time or the rebate will be charged back to your loan.

Applying for a Direct Graduate PLUS Loan is a four-step process

1. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
2. Complete a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan Application. The information obtained on the application allows us to do a credit check.
3. Complete Direct Graduate PLUS Loan entrance counseling (link is https://www.dl.ed.gov/borrower/EntrCounselingStart.do?cmd=initializeContext)
   
4. Complete the Direct PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN) after being notified by our office to do so

After your Grad PLUS Loan approved, we’ll ask you to complete the Federal Direct PLUS Loan Master Promissory Note. The MPN acts as a contract between you and the U.S. Department of Education. By signing the MPN, you promise to repay the amount loaned and agree to other important terms of the loan. You must complete the MPN so we can apply the funds to your account. You can sign the MPN online at https://dlenote.ed.gov/empn/StudentLoanSelector.jsp.

Receiving your money

Your loan money will be applied to your student account. We deduct tuition, fees and/or other balances. If there’s anything left over we refund it to you according to your Higher One refund preference.