Generally, you'll have from 10 to 25 years to repay your loan, depending on the repayment plan that you choose. Your required monthly payment amount will vary depending on how much you borrowed, the interest rates on your loans, and your repayment plan.
Parent PLUS Loans have four repayment plans: Standard repayment plan: Pay off your loan by making fixed monthly payments for 10 years. Graduated repayment plan: Start with smaller payments, then have your payments gradually increase during the 10-year repayment period.
If you're still making payments on your Parent PLUS Loan after 25 years of on-time payments (for a total of 300 payments), the remaining balance of your loan will be forgiven.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Basically, the borrower (the parent) has to work full time for an approved employer (usually the government or a nonprofit) for 10 years and make 120 payments under a qualifying IDR (more specifically, the income-contingent plan we just talked about).
The maximum PLUS loan amount you can borrow is the cost of attendance at the school your child will attend minus any other financial assistance your child receives.
No, a Direct PLUS Loan made to a parent cannot be transferred to the child. Was this page helpful? How can I lower my student loan payments? Under what circumstances can my federal student loan(s) be forgiven?
If you have a parent PLUS loan, you can only get student loan forgiveness through Public Service Loan Forgiveness or the Income-Contingent Repayment plan, and borrowers must meet certain requirements for each option, such as making 120 payments or working for a qualifying employer.
In addition, parent PLUS loans aren't eligible for some other types of federal student loan forgiveness programs. To get around this, some borrowers go through two or more federal consolidations to hide the origin of the loans, then request an IDR plan. This process is often called the double consolidation loophole.
U.S. Department of Education will dissolve a Parent PLUS Loan in the event the parent borrower passes away, or the college student who receives the funds passes away. If the federal loan is refinanced into a private loan, the loan may not be discharged.
Key Takeaways. PLUS loans are federal loans that parents can take out to cover their child's college costs. The parent, not the student, is responsible for repaying the PLUS loan. PLUS loans don't qualify for all of the income-driven repayment plans that student loans do.
Drawbacks of the Parent PLUS Loan
Timing: Many parents face high education debt burdens at a time of life when earning power generally decreases and limited income is needed for living or medical expenses. Defaulting on a parent PLUS loan can lead to the garnishment of Social Security benefits, tax refunds and wages.
In November 2022 the plan was stopped by an appeals court in Texas. The ruling included an injunction that stopped the forgiveness plan from moving forward. In 2023, Supreme Court ultimately blocked this forgiveness plan, leaving borrowers looking elsewhere for relief.
There is no forgiveness available to Parent PLUS Loan borrowers looking to retire. Remember that Parent PLUS Loan forgiveness is only possible through the Income-Contingent Repayment Plan or PSLF after first consolidating your Parent PLUS Loan into a federal Direct Consolidation Loan.
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.
Parent PLUS loans are educational loans, and the borrower can get 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.
However, Parent PLUS Loans have several drawbacks, including being relatively expensive and typically not dischargeable in bankruptcy. They might not be the best option for parents compared to other loan choices, like one with a private lender.
If a borrower dies, their federal student loans are discharged after the required proof of death is submitted. The borrower's family is not responsible for repaying the loans. A parent PLUS loan is discharged if the parent dies or if the student on whose behalf a parent obtained the loan dies.
“It's abusive,” Lloyd, who lives in Detroit, said of Parent Plus loans, a program with $111 billion in outstanding debt held by 3.7 million people. “The interest rates are predatory. The payments are high.
Parent PLUS loan borrowers can consolidate into a Direct Consolidation Loan, even without another loan, and have access to Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR).
To be eligible for a Direct PLUS Loan for parents, you must be a biological or adoptive parent (or in some cases a stepparent), not have an adverse credit history, and meet the general eligibility requirements for federal student aid (which the child must meet as well).
For example, you usually don't want to combine Parent PLUS loans with any other type of loan, because consolidating them together could mean that you will only be eligible for an Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan, which is usually more expensive than other IDR plans.
At what age do student loans get written off? There is no specific age when students get their loans written off in the United States, but federal undergraduate loans are forgiven after 20 years, and federal graduate school loans are forgiven after 25 years.
Graduated Repayment Plan—Under this plan, your payments will start off lower and then gradually increase, usually every two years. You must repay the loan in 10 years. Extended Repayment Plan—Under this plan, you can choose to make fixed or graduated monthly payments for up to 25 years.
Transfer the Parent Loan to a Spouse or Child
Your spouse or child can transfer the Parent PLUS Loan into their name if they have a good credit score (e.g., 680+) and a steady income showing they can pay back the college debt plus their living expenses.
But when it comes to student loan debt and divorce, the person who took out the loan is typically responsible for paying the loan, even in divorce. Only one of the spouses can sign the promissory note on Parent PLUS Loans, so technically that's who is responsible for the student loan in the case of divorce.