Got Parent PLUS loan approval but confused about subsidized loan status - help!

Parent PLUS loans and subsidized loans are completely different things. Parent PLUS loans are unsubsidized federal loans that parents take out to help pay for their dependent's education. Subsidized loans are offered directly to students (not parents) based on financial need, and the government pays the interest while the student is in school. Your PLUS loan approval doesn't mean anything about subsidized loans. Your daughter would be the one who qualifies for subsidized loans based on your family's financial need as calculated by the FAFSA and her SAI score. Check her financial aid award letter to see what she was offered.

congrats on getting approved! i got denied for parent plus last yr cuz of my credit score :

Just to add some clarity: when you complete the FAFSA, your daughter automatically gets considered for subsidized loans based on your family's demonstrated financial need. The Parent PLUS loan is a separate application that you (the parent) initiate, and requires a credit check. The important differences: - Subsidized loans (student's name): Government pays interest while in school - Unsubsidized loans (student's name): Interest accrues immediately - Parent PLUS loans (parent's name): Higher interest rate, parent is solely responsible Look at your daughter's financial aid package to see what loans she was offered directly. Parent PLUS is just an additional option for parents to cover remaining costs.

The parentplus loan approval is seperate from the subsidized loans! i have both for my son and they're completely different. The subsidized loans are in HIS name (benefit: no interest while in school) but the ParentPLUS is in MY name (downside: starts accumulating interest immediately). Both showed up on his award letter but we had to accept them separately.

Have you been able to talk to someone at Federal Student Aid about your specific loan situation? I was having similar confusion about my son's loans last month and couldn't get through on the phone for days. I ended up using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual FAFSA agent in about 18 minutes - they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent walked me through exactly which loans were approved, who they were assigned to (me vs my son), and explained the interest details for each type. Saved me a lot of confusion and second-guessing.

My daughter got subsidized loans and I took out Parent PLUS. They are COMPLETELY different!! Parent PLUS interest started accumulating RIGHT AWAY (ugh) and I'm the one responsible for paying it back. Her subsidized loans don't accumulate interest while she's in school and SHE is responsible for them after graduation. DON'T get them confused because the amounts and repayment terms are VERY different!!

Thanks everyone for the super helpful explanations! I just went through my daughter's award letter again and now I understand - the subsidized loans ($5,500) are offered to her directly based on our FAFSA, while the Parent PLUS loan ($18,000) that I was approved for is completely separate and in my name. It makes total sense now why they're listed separately on her award letter. I'm going to try calling FSA using that service someone mentioned to confirm everything before we accept the awards. Really appreciate all the help!

Great to see you got it all sorted out! Just wanted to add one more tip - when you do accept those awards, make sure to keep track of the disbursement dates. Parent PLUS loans typically get sent directly to the school and any excess gets refunded to you, while your daughter's subsidized loans will be credited to her student account. The timing can sometimes be different between the two types of loans, so it's good to know when to expect everything to hit. Good luck with everything!