Tuesday, February 01, 2011

PLUS Loans: Terms and Conditions of the Parent PLUS Loan

PLUS loans are the best option available to parents who wish to pay for their children’s college education. In fact, the federal government created the PLUS loans program specifically for this purpose. It can be difficult or impossible for some parents to pay for a child’s education out of their pocket- college is expensive and money is tight for many people.
PLUS loans give a parent the ability to fund the costs of college at a low, fixed rate of interest with easy repayment terms, placing a college education within the reach of many families, where otherwise the student would be forced to pay for all of these costs themselves. In order to find out if your parents can get a PLUS loan, an understanding of the basic terms and conditions is essential.

PLUS loans can be used to pay for any part of costs associated with college. This includes standard tuition, but also all other costs that many other loans will not fund, such as books and lab expenses, transportation and living expenses, and even insurance and utility expenses. This allows parents the incredible ability to provide a low-stress environment where their child does not have to concern themselves with the burden of funding their own education. Additionally, PLUS loans feature the following terms and conditions:

*A fixed interest rate of just 7.9%
*Ability to defer payments until six months after the student drops below half time status or graduate
*Ability to request forbearances and deferments in times of financial hardship
*Entire loan responsibility is that of the parent- not the student
*Can be written for any amount
*PLUS loans are offered pending a check to ensure that the parent doesn’t have an adverse credit history
*Can be written with unique repayment terms to suit particular situations

In some cases, families will share the cost of pay for college. Parents can apply for the amount of PLUS loan that they can reasonably afford, and students can apply for federal aid to cover the difference simply by filling out a FAFSA. Whatever your situation is, a PLUS loan is an excellent way to pay for college with terms and rates far better than those offered via traditional loans.

Find out more information now about the PLUS loan application process.

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