Direct Parent PLUS Loan
How much am I eligible to borrow?
You may borrow up to the full cost of your student's education, less other financial aid including Federal Direct Loans, scholarships, grants, and tuition remission. If your student receives additional aid or if the cost of attendance is reduced through a change in residency, the Parent PLUS eligibility will be adjusted.
View the cost of attendance.
The Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan helps parents assist with their student’s educational costs. PLUS loans enable parents with good credit histories to borrow to pay the education expenses of each child who is a dependent undergraduate student (as determined by Free Application of Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Even though the Parent PLUS Loan is available to all dependent undergraduate students regardless of financial need, the student must still file the FAFSA to be eligible. The Parent PLUS Loan is the parent's loan for the student. At no time can the loan be transferred to the student's name.
The Parent PLUS Loan has a higher interest rate than Federal Direct Loans and students should exhaust their Federal Direct Loan eligibility before applying for a Parent PLUS Loan. A credit check is required, although credit requirements are less stringent than for alternative student loans.
For additional information concerning Federal Direct Loans including interest rates, fees, consolidation, deferments, and loan calculators, on the Federal Student Aid website.
If you have an endorsed plus loan or an appeal approved you are now required to complete the PLUS counseling component on the Federal Student Aid website. The Department of Education will inform you at the time of your appeal approval or when your PLUS loan is endorsed to complete this new PLUS counseling requirement. This item will appear as a To-Do list item under in your MyUBalt portal and must be completed prior to the disbursement of your endorsed or appeal approved PLUS loan. Information for PLUS counseling requirements can be found at the Federal Student Aid website.
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Eligibility Requirements
Parent requirements:
- Must be the biological or adoptive parent of the student
- Step-parents may apply if married to the biological or adoptive parent and the step-parent's income and assets are listed on the FAFSA
- Parent applying for a PLUS loan must not have defaulted on any previous student or parent loans
- Parent must re-apply for the PLUS loan each academic year
Student requirements:
- Have a FAFSA completed and on file
- Be considered dependent by FAFSA
- Enrolled half-time (6 credits)
- Meeting financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress
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Application Process
The application for the Parent PLUS Loan can be found online on the Federal Student Aid website; The parent must sign in using the parent's Social Security number and FSA ID. After you're signed in, choose "Request a Direct PLUS Loan" followed by "Parent PLUS." Continue to follow the remaining prompts. Include the following on your application to ensure successful processing:
- Award Year: 2022–2023 (for loans for fall 2022, spring 2023, and summer 2023)
- Credit Balance: Indicate if you or your student should receive any refund from the PLUS loan
- School Name: University of Baltimore
- Loan Amount: Maximum amount (cost of attendance less any other aid) or specify your loan amount*
- Loan Period: 08/2022–05/2023 (for a full year loan) -- if your student will graduate in the fall and only need a fall disbursement, choose 08/2022–12/2022
*Your loan will have two disbursements if you choose a full year loan period. Half of the loan will disburse in the fall and the other half in the spring. For example, a $10,000 Parent PLUS Loan will have a $5,000 disbursement in September and a $5,000 disbursement in February, less the origination fee.
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Credit Criteria
Credit approval is based on federally mandated criteria and not your credit score. In order to qualify, you must not have any of the following items on your credit report:
- Any current delinquency of 90 days or more
- Default, bankruptcy, discharge, foreclosure, repossession, tax lien, wage garnishment, write-off of a Title IV debt, or open collection within the last 5 years
Recent changes in the law that governs the terms and conditions of PLUS Loans establish a specific extenuating circumstance for certain PLUS Loan applicants who would otherwise be considered to have an adverse credit history. Specifically, a PLUS Loan applicant may qualify for a PLUS Loan based on extenuating circumstances if the applicant:
- Has been or is delinquent for 180 days or less on mortgage loan payments or on medical bill payments for the applicant or the applicant’s family, and
- Does not otherwise have an adverse credit history as determined in accordance with the federal regulations that apply to PLUS Loan applicants.
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Credit Decisions
Credit Approval
Credit approval is valid for three months. Your credit is evaluated every time you request a new loan unless you have had a credit decision within the preceding three months.
If you think you may have one or more of the items outlined in the credit requirements listed above you may want to obtain your credit report in advance. You may be able to fix an item such as the delinquency by simply making a payment and bringing your delinquency to less than 90 days. If you have had a situation with a discharge or collection item for example, you may be able to obtain a “settled in full” status if you work with the entity to reach a satisfactory arrangement. If you are able to fix an item, it is no longer considered in the credit evaluation and it may result in your credit being approved.
Credit Denial Options
If your Parent PLUS Loan is credit denied, there are additional options available to the parent. At the time of denial, the Direct Loan online application process will provide information regarding obtaining an endorser or appealing a credit decision or the parent can contact Applicant Services for PLUS Loan borrowers at 1.800.557.7394.
UBalt will also be informed of this credit denial within a 3 to 5 day time frame. At that time, UBalt will offer the student additional unsubsidized loan eligibility that the student can accept on the MyUBalt student portal.
What happens if the parent endorser or credit appeal is approved?
UBalt will receive notification from Direct Lending and the Parent PLUS Loan will be awarded on the MyUBalt student portal. If the additional unsubsidized loan has already been awarded to the student at the time the Parent PLUS Loan endorser/credit appeal is received, the additional unsubsidized loan will be canceled and the Parent PLUS Loan will be awarded in its place.
If you have an endorsed or appeal approved PLUS loan you will now be required to complete the PLUS counseling component on the Federal Student Aid website. The Department of Education will inform you at the time of your appeal approval or when your PLUS loan is endorsed to complete this new PLUS counseling requirement. This item will appear as a To-Do list item under your MyUBalt portal and must be completed prior to the disbursement of your endorsed or appeal approved PLUS loan. Information for PLUS counseling requirements can be found Federal Student Aid website.
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Interest Rate and Origination Fees
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Loan Repayment
Parent PLUS loans are the financial responsibility of the parents, not the student. For more information on repayment of PLUS, visit the Direct Loan Program FAQs page.
- First payment is due 60 days after the PLUS loan is fully disbursed*
- Standard repayment is 10 years
- Interest accrues while the student is enrolled
*Parents may contact the Direct Loan Servicing Center at 1-800-848-0979 to request a deferment of payment based on the dependent student's enrollment status.