Federal Direct PLUS Loans for Graduate and Professional Students

In order to be awarded a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan, you must file a FAFSA. After ASU receives your FAFSA and you have completed all requested items on your My ASU task list, you will automatically be awarded a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan. The amount is usually your estimated cost of attendance minus any other financial aid awarded.

Federal PLUS Loans are subject to credit approval and may be denied. If denied there may be no substitute funding available. Please carefully consider whether a PLUS Loan is a viable option for you and your family.

If your Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan is declined credit, you may be eligible to receive a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan by securing a creditworthy endorser or appealing the declined credit decision by documenting extenuating circumstances. Please contact the U.S. Department of Education PLUS Credit Appeal line at 1-800-557-7394 or go online to studentaid.gov.

NOTE: Effective March 29, 2015, federal regulations require any graduate or professional student whose Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan was first denied credit and then consequently approved (either with a creditworthy endorser or by documenting extenuating circumstances to the satisfaction of the Department of Education) must complete PLUS Loan Counseling. You can complete PLUS Loan Counseling at studentloans.gov.

Interest rates

• The interest rate on Graduate PLUS loans is fixed.
• The current interest rate is 5.30%.
• The interest rate is based on the 10 year treasury rate plus a fixed margin of 4.6%.
• Interest starts to accumulate when the first disbursement of the Graduate PLUS Loan is made to your account.
• There is a 4.236% loan origination fee on all Graduate PLUS Loans. This fee will be deducted from each disbursement.

Accepting your Award

Please be aware that if you currently have a credit freeze on your account with the credit bureaus, the credit review on your Graduate PLUS loan will be delayed. In order to process a credit review for Graduate PLUS loan, the credit freeze must be removed.

• Once you have been awarded a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan, sign into My ASU to accept your loan. Accepting a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS loan will initiate a credit check and automatically submit a loan application to the U.S. Department of Education.
• You must also complete a Federal Direct PLUS MPN if this is your first time borrowing a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan or a financial endorser was required on a previous Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan.

Disbursement

• All Graduate PLUS Loan funds will be disbursed to you through Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) and will be applied towards your outstanding charges no earlier than seven days prior to the start of each semester.
• Any remaining funds will be disbursed to you via paper check or direct deposit to your personal bank account. You can set this up through 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.