Does Parent PLUS loan cover off-campus apartments and textbooks? FAFSA confusion

The Parent PLUS loan does work differently than other federal aid. Here's how it typically flows: 1. Your parent applies for the PLUS loan through studentaid.gov (not through FAFSA directly, but based on your FAFSA info) 2. The loan gets approved based on your parent's credit check 3. The funds first go to your school to cover direct costs (tuition, fees) 4. Any remaining amount (called a "refund" or "disbursement") can be sent either to your parent OR to you (your parent chooses this during application) And yes, Parent PLUS loans can absolutely cover off-campus housing and books! The loan amount can be up to your school's official "cost of attendance" minus any other financial aid you've received. Your school determines the official cost of attendance, which includes estimates for off-campus housing and books.

Parent PLUS loans worked great for me when I was in college. Make sure your mom selects YOU as the recipient for any leftover funds (after tuition/fees). That way the money for your apartment and books goes directly to your bank account. You should ask your financial aid office what your school's official "Cost of Attendance" is for off-campus students - that's the max your mom can borrow. Also important: Parent PLUS loans have origination fees (around 4.2%) and higher interest rates than other federal loans, so don't borrow more than you absolutely need!

careful with off campus housing!!!! my parents plus loan didnt cover all of my apartment cuz the school's "cost of attendance" housing estimate was wayyyy too low for actual rent prices near campus. ended up having to get a job my sophomore year cause i was short like $200/month

The Parent PLUS loan system is DELIBERATELY COMPLICATED to confuse families! Your mom needs to know the loan is 100% in HER NAME, not yours. She is fully responsible for paying it back no matter what happens with your education. The financial aid office won't tell you this, but many parents end up with massive debt they can't repay because schools push these loans to cover their inflated tuition. And yes, technically it can cover off-campus housing and books, but that's assuming there's money left after the school takes their cut for tuition and fees.

When I needed to get more info about my Parent PLUS loan last semester, I spent 3 days trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid. Kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. I finally used Claimyr.com to get through to an agent in about 15 minutes. They have this service that holds your place in line and calls you when an agent is ready. Saved me so much time! They even have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent I talked to explained that for off-campus housing, I needed to make sure the school had my correct local address in their system, and they confirmed exactly how much of my PLUS loan would be available for housing and books after tuition.

Just to clarify some details about books specifically, since you asked: Your school will have a books and supplies estimate in their Cost of Attendance (COA). This is what the Parent PLUS loan can cover. However, how you access those funds depends on your school's disbursement process. Some schools have a "book advance" program that makes some aid available before classes start specifically for books. Others just include it in your general refund. If your books cost more than estimated in the COA, you can sometimes request an adjustment to increase the loan amount.

my parents didnt have good credit so we couldnt get the plus loan at all. ended up having to appeal to financial aid office for more grants. might be worth checking if ur mom will even qualify before planning on this money

Thanks everyone for all this info! I just talked to my mom and we're going to call the financial aid office tomorrow to confirm exactly what our school's Cost of Attendance includes for off-campus housing and books. I'm also going to make sure she selects me to receive any leftover funds after tuition. And we'll definitely look into what happens if she doesn't get approved - good to know I might qualify for more unsubsidized loans as a backup. This has been super helpful!