Financial Aid

Parent Loans

Parents of undergraduate students can choose to utilize the Federal Parent PLUS loan or to utilize alternative loans.  The Parent PLUS loan has many positive attributes.  It offers a fixed interest rate of 7.9% with a 2.5% processing fee. In addition, any interest paid on the PLUS loan is tax deductible. Students must be enrolled in a minimum of 6 credits.

Spring/Summer 2011-2012: Parent PLUS loan will be available at www.studentloans.gov starting March 19.

Fall/Winter 2012-2013: Parent PLUS loan will be available at www.studentloans.gov starting May 1.

You will also need to go to www.studentloans.gov and sign a parent Master Promissory Note.

Loan Disbursement

Parent PLUS loans are applied to the student's account before any other student aid or payments.  If the Parent PLUS loan is greater than the total charges on the account,  a refund will be sent to either the student or the parent, depending on what has been authorized.  If a credit card payment has been made prior to the parent plus loan which results in a credit balance, the credit card will be refunded.

Loan Deferment

**Please make note that if you checked the deferment box on the PLUS loan application this does not automatically defer the payments. The parent must complete the requirements for a deferment with the loan servicer.**

If you would like to request a deferment you can contact your Federal Direct Loan servicer and request a deferment. If you do not know your loan servicer, you can retrieve Federal Direct Loan information online as well as access your loan history by going to the National Student Loan Database and using your Federal Student Aid PIN. For loan servicer contact information please see our list of Federal Loan Direct Loan Servicers.

If you choose an alternative loan, most often you are the cosigner for the student; not the primary borrower.  For additional information on alternative loans click here.