Graduate Students
Sign in to accept your Federal Direct PLUS Loan, which will initiate a credit check and automatically submit a loan application to the Dept. of Education. You must also complete a Federal Direct PLUS MPN www.dlenote.ed.gov if this is your first time borrowing a Federal Direct PLUS Loan or a financial endorser was required on a previous loan.
« Go back to Student & Parent Loans
A parent may receive a Federal Direct PLUS Loan only to pay for the educational costs of a dependent undergraduate student who meets the eligible student definition. To borrow a PLUS Loan for a student, the parent must be the student's biological or adoptive mother or father.
A stepparent is also eligible to borrow a PLUS Loan if his or her income and assets would be taken into account when calculating the dependent student's EFC
A legal guardian is not considered a parent for financial aid purposes.
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Apply for a Federal Direct PLUS Loan
File your FAFSA | Additional PLUS Loan Information
In order to be awarded a Federal Direct PLUS Loan, the student must have a FAFSA on file with ASU. After ASU receives your FAFSA and you have completed all requested items on your "To Do" list on My ASU you will automatically be awarded a Federal Direct PLUS Loan. The amount is usually your estimated cost of attendance minus any other financial aid awarded. Once you have been awarded a PLUS Loan, you must accept with the steps below under "Accept Your Parent PLUS Loan".
Although the maximum amount an eligible parent can apply for each
academic year FAN
Your parent's loan application should reflect the amount of funds they
wish to borrow for your actual period(s) of enrollment. Approved loan
amounts will be disbursed half in the fall and half in the spring if
you are enrolled for the entire academic year (i.e., fall and spring).
Please have them apply for a single term loan if you only plan to
enroll for a single semester in the academic year. The approved loan
will disburse in that semester.
For students graduating in the fall, notify Student Financial Assistance at the Tempe campus in writing
that you plan to graduate and will only need your loan for one
semester. If we are not notified the award will be split over the full
year.
Undergraduates Only : If you will not be filing a FAFSA and your parent wants to apply for a Federal Direct PLUS Loan, please contact Student Financial Assistance at Tempe campus in writing to request to be awarded a Federal Direct PLUS Loan. Once awarded, please follow the directions below to accept.
Accept Your Parent PLUS Loan
Complete these steps only if you've been awarded a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan. Start this process at least a month before tuition is due to ensure funds are available in a timely fashion, see ASU's academic calendar for tuition deadlines.
Step Who Completes This Step What To Do
0 Parent
If you have previously borrowed a Federal Direct PLUS loan at ASU, skip to step 5, otherwise, continue to step 1.
1 Student
If your parent has previously borrowed a Federal Direct PLUS loan at ASU, skip to step 5, otherwise, continue to step 1.
Go to www.asu.edu/go/parentrelationship and complete the form.
After creating and adding your parent, click on the "Add a New Service" link. Next, add the service by clicking the "Add" link; this will display the confirmation page. On the confirmation page, make sure to click the "Add Service" button to finalize the addition of this service.
This will allow your parent to apply for the Federal Direct PLUS loan on your behalf.
2 Parent
After the student completes step one above, you will receive your own ASURITE ID activation code within the next 48 hours at the e-mail address provided in step one. If you do not receive an e-mail, please contact the ASU Helpdesk at (480) 965-6500. Please do not try to add yourself a second time as this will create additional delays.
3 Parent
When you receive the e-mail, you must activate your ASURITE ID at the link provided in the email.
4 Parent
You must log out of your student's account before going any further.
5 Parent
Go to www.asu.edu/go/parentloan and using your (the parent's) ASUrite ID, accept your Federal Direct PLUS Loan award. Acceptance of the loan will initiate a credit check through the Department of Education. Results of the credit check will be mailed to you directly from the loan servicing department.
6 Parent
Go to www.dlenote.ed.gov to fill out your Master Promissory Note (MPN).Note, if you previously borrowed a Federal Direct PLUS Loan at ASU, you do not need to complete another MPN unless a financial endorser was required at the time of application. If an endorser was required you must complete another MPN.
Receiving Your PLUS Loan Funds
All PLUS Loan funds will be disbursed to the student through Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT My ASU ). If you are a fall/spring student, funds will be disbursed as a fall/spring loan (half in the fall and half in the spring). Students attending one term only are the only students eligible to apply for a single term loan.
Eligible Non-citizen Information
Your parent must provide documentation (copy of both sides) to Student Financial Assistance after accepting a Federal Direct PLUS Loan. The following are acceptable forms of documentation:
Alien Registration Card (I-551 or I-151)
Arrival-Departure Record (I-94)
Why ASU Only Awards Federal Direct PLUS Loans
The federal government operates two student loan programs, the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP
Over the last several months a number of FFELP lenders have announced their exit from the program, including National Education, College Loan Corp., Collegiate Solutions, Finansure and others. It is very possible more will follow.
In light of the ongoing difficulties in the private student loan marketplace, ASU has decided to move all Federal PLUS Loans for loan periods beginning fall 2008 to the Federal Direct Lending program. This will consolidate all federal student loan programs at ASU, with the exception of Federal Perkins Loans, under the Federal Direct Lending program.
When applying for a Federal PLUS Loan for enrollment periods on and after fall 2008, you must complete a Federal Direct Lending promissory note.
Some of the reasons for making this change are listed below:
There is no conflict of interest in Direct Lending. Therefore, the illegal, unethical, and/or questionable behaviors in FFELP as reported by Congress, the attorneys-general, and the media, do not affect Direct Lending.
Direct Lending loans for parents and graduate students offer a low variable interest rate that will never exceed 9.00% (the current rate is 7.9%). FFELP has variable rates that are reset quarterly and most have a high interest cap (the current rate is 8.5%).
In Direct Lending repayment, borrowers can change their payment plans when they believe it is in their best interest to do so; in FFELP, it is only allowed annually, and only with permission of the lender.
Many marketed benefits in FFELP do not stay with loans when they are sold. Most FFELP loans are sold to other lenders. In fact, the U.S. Dept. of Education states that in the last four years on average, each FFELP loan was sold 2.5 times. Direct Lending loans are never sold. Benefits stay with Direct Lending loans and are part of the promissory note.
One other major difference is that defaulted loans can be consolidated with the Direct Loan Consolidation program, a feature not available in an FFELP consolidation.
Grad PLUS Loans can also be consolidated with any Federal Direct Stafford Loans a student has borrowed, which will allow students to have only one payment after graduation (private/alternative loans cannot be consolidated with federal loans).
The credit check for the Grad PLUS Loan will not be as stringent as that of most private/alternative loans, which often look at debt to income ratio.
Quick disbursement turnaround through Direct Lending, immediate vs. weeks means faster loan delivery during high volume periods in the fall and spring.
Bottom line, ASU’s proven Direct Lending track record of faster, more efficient loan processing, problem resolution, and disbursement of loan funds exceeds that of FFELP.
