Can divorced parents both take Parent PLUS loans for one child after filing FAFSA separately?
My ex-husband and I have twins who are both college-bound this fall. We've been filing taxes separately - I claim our daughter and he claims our son. When completing the FAFSA, we each filled out separate applications (me for our daughter, him for our son). We just received our son's financial aid package from his university, but we're still waiting on our daughter's. Plot twist: our son has now decided to attend community college and live at home instead. Here's my dilemma: Our daughter got accepted to a private university with tuition nearly $48,000/year, and based on our son's package, I'm expecting minimal financial aid. Since we filed separate FAFSAs, can my ex-husband and I BOTH take out Parent PLUS loans for our daughter to help cover these massive costs? Our daughter will max out her federal loans, but that's only about $5,500 for her freshman year. I'm trying to avoid private loans with their crazy interest rates, but I feel like we might have no choice. Has anyone navigated this divorced-parents-with-twins FAFSA situation before? Any guidance on how Parent PLUS loans work in this scenario would be so helpful!
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Dylan Evans
Yes, both you and your ex-husband can take out Parent PLUS loans for your daughter, even though you filed separate FAFSAs. Here's what you need to know: 1) Each biological/adoptive parent can apply for their own Parent PLUS loan up to the full cost of attendance minus any other financial aid received 2) Your ex doesn't need to be the parent who completed the FAFSA to be eligible for a Parent PLUS loan 3) Each parent's loan application is evaluated separately based on their own credit history 4) The school's financial aid office will need to certify both loans Call your daughter's school's financial aid office to let them know both parents intend to apply for Parent PLUS loans. They can guide you through the process specific to their institution.
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Fatima Al-Mansour
•Thank you so much for this clear explanation! I didn't realize my ex could apply for a PLUS loan even though I was the one who completed the FAFSA. This gives us a lot more flexibility. I'll definitely call the financial aid office once we receive her package to discuss this option.
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Sofia Gomez
•BE CAREFUL with Parent PLUS loans!!! The interest rates are CRAZY high (like 7.54% right now) and there's also that ridiculous 4.2% origination fee they take right off the top! We got stuck with $80K in Parent PLUS loans for our oldest and now we're basically never going to retire. Look into private loans too - if you have good credit you might get a better rate.
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StormChaser
•As a financial aid counselor I have to point out that while private loans might have lower interest rates initially, they typically don't offer the same repayment options and forgiveness possibilities as federal loans. But yes, always compare your options!
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Fatima Al-Mansour
•@profile5 - That 4.2% origination fee is definitely concerning. We have decent credit, so maybe private loans are worth exploring. Anyone have experience with specific private lenders for education loans? @profile6 - Good point about the repayment flexibility. My job situation isn't super stable right now, so that federal loan protection might be worth the higher rate.
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Dmitry Petrov
wait im confused... i thought u can only file 1 fafsa per student? how did u do separate ones for each kid?
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Fatima Al-Mansour
•Sorry if I wasn't clear! We did file one FAFSA per student - I filled out the FAFSA for our daughter (with my financial info), and my ex-husband filled out a separate FAFSA for our son (with his financial info). We didn't do multiple FAFSAs for the same child.
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Dmitry Petrov
•ohhh ok that makes sense! my bad lol
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StormChaser
Since your daughter is attending a private university, make sure she also completed the CSS Profile if her school requires it. Many private colleges use this in addition to the FAFSA for institutional aid. It's more comprehensive than the FAFSA and considers factors the FAFSA doesn't. Also, even though your son isn't going to that school anymore, you should still contact the financial aid office immediately. Sometimes they can adjust awards based on changed circumstances.
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Fatima Al-Mansour
•Yes, she did complete the CSS Profile back in January! The school required it for merit scholarship consideration. We're hoping that helps a bit with institutional aid, but I'm not holding my breath given our income levels. Good point about contacting my son's school - I hadn't thought about that since he already decided not to attend.
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Ava Williams
Have you tried calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center to ask about your specific situation? They're the ones who can give you the official answer about Parent PLUS loan eligibility in your case. I spent HOURS trying to get through to them last month when we had a similar question (different situation, but also about divorced parents and PLUS loans). I finally discovered Claimyr.com which got me connected to an agent in about 10 minutes instead of waiting on hold forever. They have a video demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent I spoke with was super helpful and explained all our options clearly. Much better than trying to figure this out from internet forums (no offense to everyone here!
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Fatima Al-Mansour
•Thank you for this recommendation! I've been putting off calling because I've heard horror stories about the wait times. I'll definitely check out Claimyr - at this point, I need definitive answers about our options, especially with the fall semester approaching so quickly.
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Miguel Castro
•i tried calling FSA last week and got disconnected THREE TIMES after waiting over an hour each time... so frustrating!!
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Zainab Ibrahim
Just wanted to add that we're in a similar situation (twins, divorced parents) and what worked for us was having both parents apply for separate Parent PLUS loans for EACH kid, then only accepting the ones we needed after seeing all the financial aid packages. You don't have to accept the full amount they approve you for. Also look into payment plans at the school! Many private colleges offer 10-12 month payment plans with minimal fees that can help spread out the costs you pay out of pocket. This reduced how much we needed to borrow.
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Fatima Al-Mansour
•That's such a smart approach! I hadn't considered applying for all possible loans first and then deciding what to accept. And a payment plan is definitely something we should look into - breaking it into monthly payments would be much more manageable. Thank you for sharing what worked for your family!
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Miguel Castro
my parents just went thru this last yr with my brother. they tried to both get parent plus loans but one got denied cuz of credit issues. ended up having to cosign private loans which SUCKED with the interest. make sure u both check ur credit reports before applying!!!
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Fatima Al-Mansour
•That's a good heads up - I should definitely check my credit report before applying. My credit is decent but not perfect, and I'm not sure about my ex's situation. Did your parents try appealing the Parent PLUS denial? I've heard that's possible in some cases.
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Connor O'Neill
Have your daughter also apply for outside scholarships!!! There's still time for fall semester. My daughter got $7500 from local organizations and small foundations her senior year. Every bit helps when private school costs are so high. Check with your employer too - many offer education benefits for dependents that people don't even know about.
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Fatima Al-Mansour
•That's a great reminder! She did apply for several scholarships earlier this year but could definitely look for more. I'll also check with my company's HR department - I vaguely remember something about educational benefits in our handbook. Thanks for the suggestion!
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Ethan Brown
Just wanted to share that I went through something very similar last year with my divorced parents and my college costs. One thing that really helped us was sitting down together (even though they're divorced) to strategically plan who would apply for what loans based on their individual credit scores and income situations. My mom had better credit, so she took the larger Parent PLUS loan, while my dad took a smaller one. We also discovered that some schools will let you appeal your financial aid package if you can demonstrate that your family's financial situation has changed - like in your case where your son is no longer attending his original school, which might free up some family resources for your daughter's education. Also, don't forget to have your daughter file for work-study if her school offers it! It's not a huge amount of money, but every little bit helps with those living expenses. Good luck navigating this - the Parent PLUS loan system is definitely confusing when you're dealing with divorced parents!
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Ava Rodriguez
•This is really helpful advice! I hadn't thought about strategically planning who applies for what based on credit scores - that's so smart. My ex and I don't communicate much these days, but for something this important (and expensive!), it might be worth having that conversation to figure out the best approach. The idea about appealing the financial aid package is interesting too - I wonder if the change in our son's plans could actually work in our daughter's favor. And yes, definitely looking into work-study! Thanks for sharing your experience!
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NeonNebula
•As someone new to navigating financial aid, this strategic approach makes so much sense! I'm curious - when you say your parents sat down to plan based on their credit scores, did they actually share their credit reports with each other? That seems like it could be awkward given they're divorced. Also, how did the appeal process work for the changed financial circumstances? Did you need to provide specific documentation about the change in family situation?
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Oliver Schulz
•@NeonNebula Great question! You're right that it can be awkward. In our case, my parents didn't share actual credit reports, but they each checked their own credit scores beforehand and just shared the general range (like "mine's in the 700s" vs "mine's in the 600s"). That way they could plan without getting into specific details. For the appeal, we had to submit a formal letter to the financial aid office explaining the change in circumstances, along with documentation. Since it was a change in family financial situation (similar to what OP might have with her son's plans changing), we provided things like updated tax documents and a letter explaining how the change affected our ability to pay. Each school has their own process, but most are pretty understanding if you can demonstrate legitimate changed circumstances. The key is being proactive and reaching out to the financial aid office early - they're usually more helpful than you'd expect!
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