Direct PLUS Loans for Parents
If there is money left over, the school will pay it to you. In some cases, with your permission, the school may give the leftover money to your child.
If the Federal PLUS LOAN is greater than all of the total amount of the current semesters fees would a refund be issued to the person (Parent) who applied and was approved for the loan would receive a refund.
Any money left over is paid to you for other expenses. If the loan is disbursed, but you realize that you don't need the money after all, you may cancel your loan within 120 days of the disbursement, and no interest or fees will be charged.
Get additional Direct Unsubsidized Loans.
If you're a parent and you're unable to get a PLUS loan, your child may be able to get additional unsubsidized loan funds. Normally, a dependent student can't get as much unsubsidized loan funding as an independent student can.
What Are Some Reasons to Avoid PLUS Loans? First, PLUS loans have no automatic grace period. Then there's the fact they aren't eligible for most IDR plans. Then, borrowing too much is easy to do, and finally, they're nearly impossible to get out of, even in bankruptcy.
Note: You can request an increase in the amount of a Direct PLUS Loan you previously requested if it's for the same school, same award year, and same student. The loan can't exceed the cost of attendance (COA) minus other aid.
Consider sending the leftover funds back to your federal or private student loan servicer as a loan payment. That way, you can reduce your total loan cost and graduate with less student loan debt. Otherwise, use your leftover student loan money for anything you absolutely need for school.
If you want to pay more than the minimum amount, you can ask your lender to apply the extra payments toward your principal balance. However, this won't work if you have outstanding interest, your lender is required to apply your payment to any outstanding interest first.
Typically, student loans do not get deposited in your bank account. Instead, the loans are disbursed directly to the school where it is applied to tuition payments and room and board. If there is any money leftover after paying for tuition, the money will then be distributed to the student.
Parent PLUS loans can be forgiven under the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Parents can become eligible for these forgiveness programs only if they consolidate their PLUS loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan.
In most cases, your school will disburse your parent's loan money by crediting it to your school account to pay tuition, fees, room and board, and other authorized charges. If there is money left over, the school will pay it to your parent, usually by check.
Why did my college send me a check? A refund check is money that is directly deposited to you by your college. It is the excess money left over from your financial aid award after your tuition and additional fees have been paid. Your college may send you a check or the money may be deposited into your checking account.
Can the loan be transferred to the student? No, a Direct PLUS Loan made to a parent cannot be transferred to the child. You, the parent borrower, are legally responsible for repaying the loan.
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.
What happens to my parent's PLUS loan if my parent dies or if I die? Your parent's PLUS loan will be discharged if your parent dies or if you (the student on whose behalf your parent obtained the loan) die.
Ideally, you want your extra payments to go towards the principal amount. However, many lenders will apply the extra payments to any interest accrued since your last payment and then apply anything left over to the principal amount. Other times, lenders may apply extra funds to next month's payment.
Remember: any unused student loan money is still part of your loan and must be repaid. You are responsible for paying interest on the unused funds, even if you don't use them at the original disbursement date. Use our Loan Calculator to determine the monthly loan payment and total payments on your student loans.
Scholarships, grants, and loans usually disburse directly to your college to cover billed expenses. If the financial aid exceeds these costs, a refund is generated. This refund can be sent to the student or, in the case of Federal Parent PLUS Loans, sometimes to the parent, depending on the school's policies.
Contact the loan's servicer and tell them that you want to return unneeded funds within the 120-day disbursement window so the return will reduce the loan's principal.
Sometimes, students borrow more in student loans than they need to fund their education. Students in this situation may wonder “what happens if I don't use all of my student loans?” In most cases, colleges will refund the money to the student.
If there are any funds from the grant or student loan disbursements left over after tuition, fees, and room and board are paid, the remaining balance — often called a “credit balance” — will be paid directly to you in the form of cash or check, or else deposited into your bank account.
How to Use the Double Consolidation Loophole: The key to using the double consolidation loophole is to consolidate each of your Parent PLUS Loans twice. In this scenario, a borrower can have as few as two Parent PLUS Loans.
This repayment plan leads to loan forgiveness after 25 years under normal conditions, but borrowers pursuing PSLF could have remaining debt forgiven after 10 years (if you still have a balance left). Also note that monthly payments on the ICR plan are not capped, so there's no limit on how high they can go.
Unlike all other federal student loans, there are no explicit borrowing limits for parent PLUS loans. Parents may borrow up to the full cost of attendance, which is determined by the institution, not the government, and includes books, travel and living expenses. There are no ability-to-repay standards for PLUS loans.