Federal Direct Graduate Plus Loan

The Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan is a supplemental alternative financing option for students.  This federal program permits Graduate students to apply for up to their Cost of Attendance minus any financial aid.  As such, a student must be considered for their Federal Direct Student Loan eligibility prior to a Direct PLUS loan.  To be approved for this credit based loan, the student borrower cannot have an adverse credit history. The interest rate is fixed at 7.54% as of July 1, 2022.

Eligibility for the Direct Graduate PLUS Loan is based on the borrowers credit worthiness. The U.S. Department of Education will run a credit check to determine if you are eligible for the loan. Graduate students are encouraged to apply for a loan for the entire academic year rather than applying prior to each term.

Once all requirements have been met and appropriate documents submitted, the Financial Aid Office will process the federal Direct PLUS loan as part of your financial aid. The U.S. Department of Education will place your loan with a federal loan servicer (company that collects the repayment of your loan(s)). To view information about your processed loans, please visit the federal website: studentaid.gov. To access this system, use your FSA ID you used to log into your FAFSA.

Learn More About the Federal Direct Grad PLUS Loan 

If APPROVED for the Direct Graduate PLUS Loan, a PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN) must be completed. The MPN is a legal document in which you promise to repay your loan(s) and any accrued interest and fees to the U.S. Department of Education. It also explains the terms and conditions of your loan(s).

Repaying your PLUS loan:

The Direct Graduate PLUS Loan is normally payable in equal disbursements, one half of the total in each term, and will not be disbursed to the student's Bursar account until the first day of the term. There is a 4.228% fee that is deducted from the loan before it is disbursed to the University, for loans disbursed on or after October 1, 2021 and before October 1, 2022. The following link offers important information about Repaying Your Graduate PLUS Loan.Repayment plans and calculators are available, as well as information on Deferment, Forbearance, Cancellation and Consolidation. You can estimate your monthly payments using the Loan Repayment Chart. 

Applying for the PLUS loan:

When applying for the Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan you will be directed to log into the website using the same FSA ID you used to electronically sign your FAFSA https://studentaid.gov/ Follow the instructions to "Apply for a PLUS Loan." Students should not apply for the PLUS Loan for 2022-2023 until April 26, 2022 as he U.S. Department of Education does not expect to have the 2022-2023 application available until that date.

APPLY FOR A PLUS LOAN (https://studentaid.gov/)