Yes, Parent PLUS loans can be discharged under specific, limited conditions like the borrower's death or total/permanent disability, or if the student dies; they are also eligible for forgiveness through programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) after many years, though they are generally difficult to discharge in bankruptcy.
Parent PLUS borrowers can achieve forgiveness through programs like Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) after 25 years, Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) after 10 years of qualifying payments, or immediate discharge due to permanent disability or death.
Your parent PLUS loan may be discharged if you (not the child) become totally and permanently disabled, die, or (in some cases) file for bankruptcy. Your parent PLUS loan also may be discharged if the student for whom you borrowed dies.
Parent PLUS loans are educational loans, and the borrower can claim an income tax deduction. When borrowers review their tax deductions, they can deduct up to $2,500 per year in interest paid on the Parent PLUS loan. Income limits and other tax filing rules may apply.
The Parent PLUS Double Consolidation Loophole offers a unique opportunity to merge your Parent PLUS loans into a single consolidation loan and lower your repayment by 50%. The biggest problem is that this loophole is scheduled to expire on July 1, 2025, but it takes 4 to 6 months to complete.
However, Parent PLUS Loans will be capped at $20,000 per student per year and a $65,000 lifetime limit beginning July 1, 2026. Parents who borrowed before that date can continue borrowing under the current limits for up to three additional years or until their student completes their program. Good news.
Parent Plus loans are federal loans that allow parents to borrow money to help pay for their child's undergraduate education expenses. In the event that the parent borrower passes away, the government will discharge and forgive the remaining Parent PLUS loan debt.
The $100,000 Loophole.
Under this loophole, if the borrower's net investment income for the year is no more than $1,000, your taxable imputed interest income is zero.
By taking action now, you can make your Parent PLUS loans eligible for an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, which sets payments as a portion of your income each year and offers many people lower payments compared to the Standard Repayment plan.
Drawbacks of the Parent PLUS Loan
This process of paying off your loan over time is called amortization. Using the formula above, for a $50,000 student loan with a 10-year repayment at 5% interest, you can expect to make monthly payments of around $530 per month.
The government doesn't forgive Parent PLUS Loans when you retire or draw Social Security benefits, but it has programs that will wipe out your remaining balance after you've made a number of student loan payments under an income-driven repayment plan.
Only after you pay your federal student loans can the default be removed, but it will still take seven years from the time of repayment for those accounts to be removed. Keep in mind: Federal law limits how long most types of negative information can remain on your credit report.
You will lose repayment plan options and restart the clock on PSLF and other forgiveness programs. You can learn more about the consolidation process here . Act quickly to avoid default. Default can result in consequences like garnishment of your wages, federal tax return, or Social Security.
Consolidating Parent PLUS loans costs nothing; there are no origination fees. It may simplify your monthly payment if you've been managing multiple payments to different loan servicers. Consolidation can make some types of federal loans eligible for income-driven repayment plans.
Under this loan program, parents may borrow up to the cost of education at a particular institution minus any financial aid a student receives. Repayment of a PLUS Loan begins within 60 days of final disbursement and can take up to 25 years based on the total outstanding balance.
Parent PLUS loan borrowers can consolidate into a Direct Consolidation Loan, even without another loan, and have access to Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR). This plan is based on 20% of discretionary income and has a maximum student loan repayment period of 25 years.
New Limits for Parent PLUS Loans
Today, Parent PLUS borrowing can cover up to a school's full cost of attendance (minus other aid such as scholarships and grants). Starting July 1, 2026, new Parent PLUS loans will be limited to: $20,000 per year and. $65,000 total per student.
There is no income cap for FAFSA. Even high-income students should apply to access federal loans and some merit aid. Aid eligibility is based on your Student Aid Index (SAI) and cost of attendance, not just income alone.
As of 2025, you can give an adult child up to $19,000 in a year before you must file a gift tax return. If your adult child is married, you can also give up to $19,000 to their spouse.
Participants may receive a nontaxable loan of up to 50% of their vested account balance not to exceed $50,000. A minimum loan up to $10,000 can be made that exceeds the 50% rule as long as the excess is secured with additional collateral. The participant loan, by its terms, must be repaid within five years.
Common personal loan requirements
That means you'll need a better credit score, higher and more stable income and less total debt than you'd need if you borrowed less than $100,000. Credit score: In general, you will need to have good to excellent credit, a FICO score of 680 or higher, to qualify.
No, the federal government doesn't forgive student loans at age 50, 65, or when borrowers retire and start drawing Social Security benefits. So, for example, you'll still owe Parent PLUS Loans, FFEL Loans, and Direct Loans after you retire.
As a parent PLUS borrower, can I transfer responsibility for repaying the loan to my child? No, a Direct PLUS Loan made to a parent cannot be transferred to the child.
The law also sets new caps on the federal loans parents can borrow to pay for their child's undergraduate education, also known as Parent PLUS loans. Effective July 1, 2026, new parent borrowers will be prohibited from borrowing more than $20,000 per year and $65,000 total per child.