Federal Direct Plus Loans
Learn more about applying for Federal PLUS Loans
Federal Direct PLUS Loan For Graduate Students
Graduate students who have filed a FAFSA for the academic year may be eligible to borrow up to the amount of their total cost of education, as certified by the Student Financial Services Office, less any financial aid they have been awarded.
For 2025-26, the Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan is a non-need-based loan which has a fixed interest rate of 8.94%. A 4.228% origination fee is deducted from the awarded amount before the loan is disbursed to the student borrower's student account. For example, on a $10,000 Plus loan $9,557 will disburse to the student's account.
You don't have to start making payments until six months after you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment.
To apply for a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan, students must complete a FAFSA which will determine initial eligibility for the PLUS Loan and also for Federal Stafford Unsubsidized Direct Loan funding.
Students are encouraged to take advantage of their annual Federal Stafford Unsubsidized Direct Loan eligibility before applying for a Graduate PLUS Loan because the terms and conditions of the Stafford Loan are better than those for the Graduate PLUS Loan.
To apply for a Graduate PLUS loan, student borrowers go online to www.studentaid.gov.
After submitting the online PLUS request, the student borrower receives the results of the credit check for the loan. If the credit check is approved, first-time borrowers are required to go online to www.studentaid.gov to complete a loan entrance counseling session and sign the Graduate PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN), Studentaid.gov notifies the Student Financial Services Office that the loan has been approved and that office then processes the loan.
Student borrowers who do not pass the credit check can pursue an endorser or a credit override by calling the Direct Loan Applicant Services Center at 1-800-557-7394.
PLUS Loans are only processed once the student has registered for the first term indicated they will attend on the loan application. If a student applies before they are registered the loan will not be processed until they are registered. Students who apply before they register should notify Student Financial Services at financialservices@seattleu.edu once they have registered to continue the processing of the loan. PLUS Loan credit checks are only valid for 6 months.
Students who file for bankruptcy may still be required to pay back this loan.
Loan Servicers
Once disbursed, the Federal Department of Education assigns students' Graduate PLUS Loans to one of their loan servicers. Those loan servicers are responsible for answering loan account questions, processing deferments and forbearances and sending out bills and processing loan payments. Students with more than one loan may have more than one loan servicer.
Students can go to studentaid.gov and log in to see which loan servicer(s) is responsible for their loan(s). They can also call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 for this information.
Student borrowers are responsible for ensuring that their loan servicer(s) always has their current billing address and phone number.
Federal Parent PLUS Loans
This loan is available to the parents of undergraduate students who have filed a FAFSA for the current academic year. The parent borrower may borrow up to the amount of the total cost of education (as certified by the Office of Student Financial Services) less the financial aid their student has been awarded.
For 2025-26, the interest rate for Parent PLUS Loans is fixed at 8.94%. A 4.228% origination fee is deducted from the awarded amount before the loan is disbursed. For example, on a $10,000 Plus loan $9,557 will disburse to the student’s account.
If there is a Parent PLUS Loan on the student’s account, the portion of the credit balance on the account created by that loan must be mailed directly to the parent borrower unless, as part of the application process, the student’s parent consented to make the refund from their loan available to the student. Parent borrowers may request a change in the credit balance delivery by reaching out to Student Financial Services.
Repayment begins 60 days after the loan is fully disbursed for the academic year. For instance, for an academic year loan for three quarters, repayment begins 60 days after the spring quarter disbursement in March. However, the parent borrower may request that payments be deferred while their student is enrolled by calling the loan servicer. Parent borrowers can find the loan servicer contact information at studentaid.gov.
Parent borrowers apply for this loan online at studentaid.gov. Once processed, the parent borrower will receive the results of the loan's credit check.
If the credit check is approved, a first-time parent borrower will be required to sign the Federal Direct PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN) at studentaid.gov using their own FSA ID username and password. Studentaid.gov will notify the Office of Student Financial Services that the loan is approved, and Student Financial Services will process the loan.
Parent borrowers who do not pass the credit check, can pursue an endorser or a credit override by calling the Direct Loan Applicant Services Center at 1-800-557-7394.
If an endorser or a credit appeal is not an option, students may contact Student Financial Services to request an additional Unsubsidized Stafford Loan which is available only to undergraduate students whose parents have been denied a Parent PLUS Loan.
After a Parent PLUS Loan has been disbursed, the Federal Department of Education assigns it to one of their loan servicers. That loan servicer will be responsible for answering questions about the parent borrower's loan account, processing deferments and forbearances and for sending out bills and processing loan payments.
Parent borrowers are responsible for ensuring that their loan servicers always have their current billing address and phone number.
Parent borrowers can go to studentaid.gov and log in to find out which loan servicer is responsible for servicing their loans. They can also get this information by calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243.
PLUS Loans are only processed once the student has registered for the first term indicated they will attend on the loan application. If a student applies before they are registered the loan will not be processed until they are registered. Students who apply before they register should notify Student Financial Services at financialservices@seattleu.edu once they have registered to continue the processing of the loan. Plus Loan credit checks are only valid for 6 months.
Bankruptcy Limitations
Parents who file for bankruptcy may still be required to pay back this loan.