Fill Out Direct PLUS Loan MPN Online

Who borrows with a PLUS MPN

Two groups sign this note. Graduate and professional students can borrow Direct PLUS Loans for their own study, often to cover costs beyond their unsubsidized loan limits. Parents, meaning the biological or adoptive parent of a dependent undergraduate, can borrow to help pay that student's cost of attendance.

A parent borrower, not the student, is the legal borrower on a parent PLUS loan and is responsible for repayment. Parents borrowing for more than one student sign a separate MPN for each student, and each borrower must meet the general federal student aid eligibility rules.

The credit check and endorsers

PLUS loans include a credit review. The Department checks the borrower's credit history each time a PLUS loan is requested. A borrower found to have an adverse credit history can still receive the loan by obtaining an endorser without adverse credit or by documenting extenuating circumstances, and in either case must complete PLUS credit counseling provided by the Department.

An endorser is someone who agrees to repay the loan if the borrower does not. On a parent PLUS loan, the endorser cannot be the student the loan is for. The note also limits borrowing in this situation: a borrower with an adverse credit history who uses an endorser can receive only one loan under that MPN, so a new note is needed for each subsequent loan.

How to fill out the paper MPN

The paper note collects borrower, student, school, and reference information, followed by certifications and your signature:

• Borrower information: name, address, SSN, date of birth, and contact details for the graduate student or parent who is borrowing.
• Student information on a parent PLUS note: the dependent undergraduate's name, SSN, and date of birth.
• School information: the name and address of the school the student attends, which certifies loan eligibility and the amount.
• References: two people who have known the borrower for at least three years and live at different addresses. References are contacts, not cosigners.
• Read the certifications and authorizations, which include the promise to use loan funds only for authorized educational expenses and acknowledgment of the credit history requirements.
• Sign and date by hand, then return the note to the school or its processor. Read the entire MPN and the Borrower's Rights and Responsibilities Statement before signing.

How long the note lasts

A PLUS MPN can support multiple loans for up to ten years when the school participates in multi-year use and no endorser was required. New loans stop under the note on the earliest of: your written notice that you want no further loans, one year after signing with no disbursement, or ten years after the signing or receipt date.

Interest accrues on PLUS loans from disbursement, and each loan comes with a disclosure statement showing its amount and terms. Repayment on a parent PLUS loan normally begins once the loan is fully disbursed, though parents can request deferment while the student is enrolled at least half time and for six months afterward.