Is it too late to apply for Parent PLUS loan after receiving disappointing FAFSA award?

It's definitely not too late to apply for a Parent PLUS loan! The FAFSA and PLUS loan applications are separate processes. The FAFSA determines your student's eligibility for grants, work-study, and direct student loans, while the PLUS loan is specifically for parents to help cover remaining costs. You can apply for a Parent PLUS loan anytime during the academic year. Just go to studentaid.gov, log in with your FSA ID (not your student's), and complete the application. You'll need to pass a credit check, but the standards aren't as strict as private loans. The school won't automatically reconsider the aid package, but once approved for the PLUS loan, you can include that amount in your payment plans. If you have extenuating circumstances affecting your ability to pay, you could also request a professional judgment review from the financial aid office.

we went thru this EXACT thing last yr!! the finAid pkg was like $8k short of what we needed. did the plus loan in may and it was fine, school just added it to the package. they dont really care when u do it as long as its before classes start.

Applying for a PLUS loan won't change the grant amounts your daughter received. The financial aid office already determined those based on your FAFSA information. The PLUS loan is just another way to cover the remaining costs after other aid is applied. However, I would STRONGLY recommend calling the financial aid office directly to let them know you're applying for the PLUS loan now and to discuss your concerns about the award amount. Sometimes there are other institutional scholarships they can consider if you explain your situation. The aid package being "less than expected" might indicate there was an issue with how your information was processed, or they might be able to explain why there's such a discrepancy from what you calculated. I've been trying to reach our financial aid office for weeks with no luck - constant busy signals and voicemails that never get returned. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to a live agent after days of trying. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. Getting to speak with an actual person made all the difference in understanding our options.

just wanted to say that the exact same thing happened to us - the calculator said one thing but the actual award was like WAY off. turns out there was a mistake on our FAFSA with how we reported retirement accounts that made our EFC way higher. might want to check if theres an error on yours

While it's not too late to apply for a Parent PLUS loan, I do want to clarify a few important points: 1. The financial aid award letter your daughter received should already include her maximum eligibility for federal student loans (usually $5,500 for freshmen). Make sure you understand which loans are already included before taking additional loans. 2. Parent PLUS loans currently have higher interest rates (around 8.05%) compared to Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized student loans (around 5.5%). They also have origination fees around 4.2% taken out upfront. 3. If you're denied for a PLUS loan due to adverse credit history, your daughter becomes eligible for additional unsubsidized student loans ($4,000 more per year for freshmen/sophomores). 4. Instead of immediately assuming you need the full $14,000 gap in PLUS loans, I strongly recommend scheduling an appointment with the financial aid office to review payment plans, potential scholarship opportunities, and to verify that all your FAFSA information was interpreted correctly. When comparing your expected aid (based on the calculator) versus what you received, the discrepancy often comes from how assets were reported or interpreted, particularly retirement accounts, home equity, or small business ownership. A financial aid counselor can help identify these issues.

THE FINANCIAL AID SYSTEM IS SUCH A SCAM!!!!! They DELIBERATELY make the calculators show better numbers than what you actually get so you commit to their school and then SURPRISE you're short thousands of dollars! And then they push Parent PLUS loans with their crazy high interest rates to trap families in debt!!! My kid's school did the EXACT same thing - calculator said we'd pay $7K, actual cost was $19K. The whole system is designed to extract maximum $$ from families.

When you apply for the Parent PLUS loan, make sure you specifically request the exact amount you need after calculating all expenses and other aid. Don't just check the box that says "maximum amount" - you could end up borrowing more than necessary and paying interest on funds you don't need. Also, many schools have payment plans that let you spread the cost over 10-12 months instead of paying each semester in full. This might help reduce how much you need to borrow through PLUS.

My daughter is in her junior year now and we've used Parent PLUS loans every year. The process is pretty quick - usually takes about 20 minutes to apply online and you get an immediate decision in most cases. One thing to watch for: make sure you specify the loan period correctly (usually Aug-May for traditional academic year). If you put the wrong dates it can delay processing.

Update: I applied for the Parent PLUS loan last night and was approved! The financial aid office also helped us identify an error in how we reported some retirement assets on the FAFSA that affected our SAI calculation. They're letting us submit correction documentation that might increase her grant eligibility by around $3,200. Plus they told us about a payment plan that would let us spread the remaining costs over 10 months interest-free. I'm feeling so much more relieved now. Thanks everyone for your help!

This is such a great outcome! Your story really highlights how important it is to actually talk to the financial aid office instead of just assuming the worst. I'm dealing with a similar situation right now - got my son's aid package last week and there's about a $9,000 gap that we weren't expecting. Reading through all these responses has given me a much clearer picture of what steps to take. I'm going to call tomorrow to review our FAFSA for any errors and ask about payment plans before jumping straight to Parent PLUS loans. Thanks for sharing your experience and the update - it's really encouraging to see that these situations can often be resolved with the right approach!