Federal Graduate Student PLUS Loans

Grad PLUS Loan Elimination

Starting with the Fall 2026 term, the federal Graduate PLUS Loan program has been eliminated for new graduate students and any continuing graduate students who don’t meet the federal legacy rules below.

Under the new rules, eligible graduate students can still borrow up to $20,500 per year in Unsubsidized Direct Student Loans, but can no longer borrow additional funds from the Graduate PLUS Loan program. Graduate students who want to borrow more than $20,500 per year, can apply for additional private student loans.

The Parent PLUS Loan program that parents can use to borrow loans for undergraduate students has NOT been eliminated.

Grad PLUS Loan Legacy Rules

Based on draft federal regulations, if you previously borrowed a graduate Federal Unsubsidized Direct Student Loan or Graduate PLUS Loan at TU, that was or is disbursed to TU before July 1, 2026, and you are still pursuing the same academic program, and you haven’t withdrawn from it, you can continue to borrow additional Graduate PLUS loans for the same graduate academic program for up to three additional academic years or until you  complete that academic program, whichever comes first.

Based on current interpretations of the draft federal guidance, new graduate students who start at TU for the summer 2026 will probably be eligible to borrow under the old rules if they borrow a summer federal Unsubsidized loan that is disbursed to TU before July 1, 2026.

Grad PLUS Legacy Eligibility Requirements

Grad PLUS Application Process

To apply for a PLUS Loan, you must complete all of these steps every academic year.

  1. Complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
  2. In March and April of each year, we start sending award notifications to FAFSA applicants.
  3. Your aid notification information will explain how to accept your aid.
  4. Before you can borrow a Graduate PLUS Loan, you must first borrow your maximum direct unsubsidized loan.
  5. After you accept your PLUS loan, you must complete additional PLUS Loan application steps.

Grad PLUS Annual Loan Limits

The maximum annual Grad PLUS loan amount is determined by the following legacy formula:

Your Cost of Education Budget
- Total Other Aid Received (including other student loans)
= Maximum Annual Legacy Grad PLUS Loan

Borrowing Costs

Interest Rates

For PLUS Loans first disbursed from 7/1/25 to 6/30/26, the interest rate is 8.94%. For loans first disbursed after 6/30/26, new rates will be released in June. 

Processing fees

In addition to the interest costs, borrowers must also pay a federal loan origination fee that is deducted from each loan disbursement.  For loans first disbursed on or after October 1, 2020 and before October 1, 2026, the fee is 4.228% of each loan disbursement.

Loan Repayment Information

The repayment period for principal and interest begins the day after the loan has been fully disbursed.  For example, a loan covering the fall and spring terms will enter repayment after the disbursement for the spring term.  Unlike other Federal Direct Loans, PLUS loans do not have a payment free Grace Period.  The first loan payment is due within 60 days after the final loan disbursement of loan proceeds for an academic year. 

For additional information, visit these U.S. Department of Education links.

Repayment

  • Use the Loan Simulator to estimate your monthly payments.
  • Compare the repayment plan options. The standard repayment plan offers the lowest total borrowing costs because it pays off your loan the fastest, but the other plans can be helpful if the monthly payments from the standard plan are too high.  If you want to pay off your loan faster, you can prepay all or a portion of your loan at any time without penalty.
  • If you have repayment problems or questions, contact your federal loan servicer.  To find your federal loan servicer, login to studentaid.gov. Your servicer can help you to avoid the consequences of delinquent payments and default. Many options are available including different repayment plans, deferments and forbearance.

Deferment and Forbearance

Learn about your Loan Deferment and Forbearance options. 

  • During qualified enrollment deferment periods, you may defer making payments on your PLUS loan, but interest will always continue to accrue during all deferment periods. 
  • If you don't qualify for a deferment, but are having trouble making your payments, you can request a forbearance. If your request is approved, you can temporarily postpone your loan payments, but interest will continue to accrue. 
  • You could also consider switching to a different repayment plan.

Loan Forgiveness, Cancellation and Discharge

  • PLUS Loans are also eligible for several Loan Forgiveness, Cancellation, and Discharge options including but not limited to total and permanent disability discharge and public services loan forgiveness. PLUS loans are not eligible for teacher loan forgiveness.

Direct Consolidation Loan

  • If you have borrowed from several different federal loan programs, you may want to use a Direct Consolidation Loan to simplify and reduce your payments by combining your loans into one loan with a single monthly payment.