Parent PLUS loans differ
from other federal student loans in that they require a strong credit history along with general eligibility requirements tied to receiving federal student aid.
You may have received loans
under other federal student loan programs, such as the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) Program.
All Direct Loans, Stafford Loans, and Graduate PLUS borrowers are eligible for REPAYE, as well
as other federal student loans that are consolidated into Direct Loans.
Although loan forgiveness under this program is available only for loans made and repaid under the Direct Loan Program, loans made under
other federal student loan programs may become eligible for forgiveness if they are consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan.
Perkins loans are different from
other federal student loans in that participating schools receive a limited amount of Perkins money to lend to students.
The next benefit is that the interest rate for a Perkins Loan is only five percent, which is lower than
other federal student loan options, like the Stafford Loan, Parent PLUS Loan, and Grad PLUS Loan.
They state, «You may have received loans
under other federal student loan programs, such as the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) Program.
All Direct Loans, Stafford Loans, and Graduate PLUS borrowers are eligible for REPAYE, as well
as other federal student loans that are consolidated into Direct Loans.
What makes the Parent PLUS loan different
from other federal student loans is that it's taken out by the parents, not the student; in fact, the student has no obligation to pay it back or deal with its maintenance.
In this situation, you may want to leave your existing Direct Loans out of the consolidation and consolidate only
your other federal student loans.
Parent PLUS Loans have high interest rates compared to
other federal student loans and even cost more than some private student loans.
PLUS loans are a little different than
other federal student loans.
For example, Perkins Loans are not eligible for the income - based repayment plans unless the borrower consolidates the loans with
her other federal student loans.
All other federal student loans that are deferred will continue to accrue interest.
For this reason, if you've made qualifying PSLF payments on your Direct Loans and you're thinking of consolidating those loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan along with loans you received under
other federal student loan programs, you should leave your Direct Loans out of the consolidation and consolidate only your loans from other federal student loan programs.
Also, at that time, the forbearance or stopped collections period for any of
your other federal student loans will end.
Parent PLUS borrowers who also have
other federal student loans and choose to consolidate with Direct will find that the PLUS loan taints the entire consolidation loan and will mean that they will not be eligible to repay the consolidation loan using IBR.
Any remaining balance on the loan will be forgiven, but unlike
the other Federal student loan forgiveness plans, you will owe taxes on the amount forgiven.
Parent PLUS borrowers who also have
other federal student loans and choose to consolidate with Direct will find that the PLUS loan taints the entire consolidation loan and will mean that they will not be eligible to repay the consolidation loan using income - driven repayment.
You should always consolidate them separately, if at all, to make sure that
your other federal student loans remain eligible for the best income - driven repayment plans.
Note that loans made under
other federal student loan programs may become eligible for PSLF if they're consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan, but only payments toward that consolidated loan will count toward the 120 - payment requirement.
Parent Plus loans have higher interest rates and lesser flexibility compared to
other federal student loans.
All other federal student loans that are deferred will continue to accrue interest.