Federal Direct PLUS for Graduate and Professional Students

 

Effective Summer 2009: FSU will be processing all Stafford and PLUS loans through the Federal Direct Loan funding process.

 

The Federal Direct PLUS for Graduate and Professional Student Loan allows graduate and professional student (Law, Medicine) to apply for a federal loan to assist in paying for the cost of education.

Eligibility requirements:	The student must be enrolled as a degree seeking student, at least half-time (six credit hours) per term of disbursement. The student must maintain Satisfactory Progress requirements as established by FSU.  Satisfactory Progress requirements are published online at http://financialaid.fsu.edu/sat.html The student must be either U.S. Citizens or eligible non-citizens (as defined by federal financial aid regulation The student cannot be in default on a Federal loan or owe repayment on a Federal grant The student must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), available online at www.fafsa.ed.gov
Loan Information:	Information below as of March 2009.  For updated or additional information on any of the following loan details, please check with the Federal Direct Loan Servicing Center at 1-800-848-0979 Annual Loan Limit Cost of attendance minus all other aid (scholarship, grants, loans, work-study, agency billings, waivers) Interest Rate 7.9   % fixed rate.  Interest begins to accrue upon date of disbursement. Fee 4.0   % Origination Fee Repayment benefits 1.5   % up front rebate which remains in effect as long as the first 12 payments are made on-time 0.25 % interest rate reduction for payments made by auto-debit Repayment Repayment begins 60 days after the last disbursement for the loan period Deferment May be an option for periods when student is enrolled at least half-time
Application Process	Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid at www.fafsa.ed.gov Check your financial aid offer on the Financial Aid Student Toolkit through secure login on Blackboard and determine if additional borrowing through the Federal Direct PLUS loan program will be required. If you determine that you need to apply for PLUS loan funding, complete both the Graduate PLUS application and the Graduate PLUS Master Promissory Loan Note at apply online through the Federal Direct Loan website at http://www.studentloans.gov If you have not already done so, complete Federal PLUS for Graduate and Professional Student Loan Entrance Counseling online at http://www.StudentLoans.gov (Complete the Combination - Stafford and PLUS Loan counseling to cover both Federal Stafford and Federal PLUS for Graduate Student loan information) If you have not already done so, complete an FSU Account Refund Statement online through Secure Apps on Blackboard to authorize disbursement.
Follow up Process:	The Federal Department of Education performs a credit check based upon the authorization from the Graduate PLUS Application. If approved, the loan will be processed after the financial aid file is complete and verified. Disbursement will be made through Florida State University during regular disbursement periods (starting second week of each term). If the PLUS loan application is denied, the U.S. Dept. of Education will notify you of options to appeal or apply again with a co-endorser.
Questions	U.S. Department of Education Direct PLUS Loan Information: Website: http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/PlusLoansGradProfstudents.jsp Phone: 1-800-848-0979
last updated	July 13, 2010