Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) are loans that a parent may borrow on the behalf of a student. If you need additional help with college expenses after exhausting other scholarship, grant and federal student loan options, we would recommend the PLUS loan.
The UNK Office of Financial Aid requires a PLUS borrower to complete both of the following steps.
The first is to download, print and fill out the Parent Authorization Form linked below. This form needs to be forwarded to the UNK Office of Financial Aid. The Parental Authorization Form allows you to indicate to us how much you want to borrow and lets us credit the student account with the loan
The second step in the process is to complete the PLUS promissory note. The PLUS promissory note for a Federal Direct Student Loan needs to be completed only one time for the initial loan you borrow for a student. Borrowing in subsequent years will be based on the initial note you complete. Please read the following which explains the new PLUS loan application process.
For many years parents have borrowed their federally guaranteed PLUS Loans from banks or credit unions. Since that time, Congress changed the statute authorizing the federal education loan programs and now all of our students and parents borrow in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program. Practically speaking, this means all of our PLUS borrowers now borrow their federally guaranteed loans directly from the U.S. Department of Education which are funded by U.S. Treasury.
Please proceed to the StudentLoans.gov website established by the U.S.Department of Education to complete your new Master Promissory Note (MPN) for this loan. You will need your Department of Education PIN number to sign in to this site. Once you sign in, you will have two options for beginning the application process. The options are 'Request a PLUS Loan' or 'Complete Master Promissory Note.' The 'Request a PLUS Loan' will lead you through an immediate credit check process. Use this link if you are concerned about credit approval for the loan. If you are not concerned about credit approval proceed straight to the 'Complete Master Promissory Note' link. Those that have a credit approval done first will also need to make sure to proceed through the 'Complete Master Promissory Note' process in order to have a fully processed application.
As in the past, your student will receive the financial aid award once we receive the FAFSA, and if necessary once you complete any additional documentation we might need and promissory notes that the Department of Education needs. The student financial aid award for 2012-2013 will be on our student information portal, http://myblue.nebraska.edu.
As always you are welcome to contact us with any questions you might have regarding your financial aid, including this change in your federal parent loan access.