Parent PLUS Student Loan Forgiveness: What You Should Know
"The U.S. Department of Education offers direct loans specifically for parents of college students, called Parent PLUS loans. Like with other federal student loans, only a few special circumstances qualify parents for loan forgiveness," U.S. News & World Report writes.
..."What sets this financing apart from other federal student loan programs is that a credit history check is performed on parents to make sure they don't have adverse credit items like foreclosures or bankruptcies. However, the credit score doesn't matter in the same way that it might for other types of borrowing, since everyone gets the same interest rate. 'If a parent has no credit, they can still be approved because they do not have adverse credit,' says Sarah Austin, policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
Unlike other federal student loan programs, there's also no cap on borrowing amounts. The limit for Parent PLUS loans is defined as the total cost of attendance at the school the child attends minus any other financial assistance the child receives.
As such, the potential amount of loan debt a parent could take on is very high, especially over a number of years and with multiple children, says Austin. 'It's important for parent borrowers to understand what repayment looks like,' Austin says. She encourages borrowers to use the Loan Simulator tool on the StudentAid.gov website."
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Publication Date: 6/13/2025
