Parent Loans For Undergraduate Students (PLUS) are federally guaranteed loans available to parents of dependent students. Amounts for PLUS loans are limited to the cost of attendance minus other student aid you may receive. Parents do not have to demonstrate financial need to borrow with PLUS loans, but must have a good credit history.
Graduate/professional PLUS loans are also available for graduate and professional students to help cover educational expenses. Students do not have to demonstrate financial need to borrow with PLUS loans, but the students must have good credit history and have already applied for their annual loan maximum eligibility under the Federal Stafford Loan program. Students must be enrolled, or accepted for enrollment, at least half-time in a graduate or professional program of study. Repayment on a PLUS loan begins 60 days after final disbursement unless payments are deferred, but interest continues to accrue either way.
Consolidation loans allow you to combine all the federal student loans you received to finance your college education in a single loan. Most federal education loans are eligible for consolidation, including subsidized and unsubsidized Direct and FFEL Stafford Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, and others. All FFEL and Direct Stafford Loan borrowers are eligible to consolidate their loans after graduation, they leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment. Parent borrowers can consolidate PLUS loans once they are fully disbursed.
