The Federal Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) lets parents borrow money to pay the education expenses of their dependent student. To be eligible, students must submit a FAFSA, be enrolled in six or more credits each semester, and the parent applicant must pass a credit check. 

The interest rate is a fixed 8.94% for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2025, and before July 1, 2026, both while a student is in college, and during repayment.

Starting with the Summer 2026 semester, which begins our 2026-27 award year, new federal government rules will place stricter limits on how much parents can borrow, creating a new award year limit of $20,000 per student and a lifetime limit of $65,000 per student.

Previously, the amount that a parent could borrow per year was equal to your total cost of attendance for the year minus the sum of all other financial aid you were awarded. 

To know how much your parent can borrow via a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan, answer this question: Did your parent borrow through the PLUS Loan program on your behalf prior to the 2026-27 award year?

• If 'yes', they may still be able to borrow up to an amount equal to your total cost of attendance for the year minus the sum of all other financial aid you were awarded.
• If 'no', then these limits per student apply:
  • Up to $20,000 per award year
  • Up to $65,000 lifetime

Because a full-year PLUS Loan requires us to divide the borrowed amount into two equal disbursements, there sometimes are good reasons to consider a single semester PLUS Loan. One example is when a toolkit is needed for the fall semester, resulting in a higher fall semester cost compared to the spring semester cost. Learn more.

The PLUS Origination Loan Fee Calculator helps borrowers account for the origination fee and determine how much to borrow. The U.S. Department of Education deducts this fee from the borrowed amount of a PLUS Loan at the time of disbursement. The fee can be different each year. The fee through September 30, 2026 is 4.228%.

It’s wise to consider the fee when determining how much to borrow. For example, if $10,000 is precisely what you need to supplement other aid and cover the balance of all educational expenses, the PLUS calculator tells you that the amount to borrow should be $10,441, to account for the fee. Borrowing a total of $10,000 would mean the disbursed amount would be over $400 short.

The calculator is easy to use. Whether you are borrowing for a single semester or for a full academic year (fall and spring semesters), simply enter the expected PLUS Loan funding needed for the period and the calculator will tell you what the origination fee will be and how much to borrow to get your desired loan funding.

Please note, an origination fee is subtracted from the borrowed amount prior to disbursement. If you wish to receive a specific loan amount, please enter that figure and the tool will calculate the borrowing amount, accounting for the origination fee.

To apply for a PLUS Loan:

1. Complete a FAFSA for the 2026-27 academic year
2. Parent must submit a Direct PLUS Loan Application to initiate a credit check. Your parent will need an FSA ID to sign in to the PLUS Loan Application.
3. Parent must complete a Direct PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN). 
   Separate MPNs must be submitted for different students in the same family.

If your parent’s Direct PLUS Loan Application is declined by the U.S. Department of Education due to an adverse credit history, your parent will be provided with two options. Learn more.

Alternatively, students approved for a Federal Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Student Loan can be awarded an increase in the unsubsidized part of that loan, based on the number of credits students have earned toward their program or major. To learn more, contact the Financial Aid Loans team.

To reduce or cancel their approved Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan Application, please have your parent borrower contact the Financial Aid Loans Team. Be sure that your parent includes their legal name, your full legal name, your student ID number, the loan type and total amount that they request to retain and/or cancel. If their loan was requested for the full academic year, note that your parent's request must reduce their loan evenly across the fall and spring semesters. 

If you are transferring to Penn College from another college, ask your prior college to cancel the next disbursement of your Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan. Your parent will need to re-apply for this loan, following the steps above.