School I want to attend requires plus loan

[Brando989]

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There's a college that I want to attend that will require my parent to apply for a PLUS loan. My parent has really bad credit though and I wouldn't feel comfortable asking them to apply for a loan on top of the debt they already have. It's not likely that they would get approved but I don't want to risk the chance that they could be approved.

The school said that if my parent wasn't approved for the loan my Stafford loan would increase to help pay.

What should I do?

 

[DrMidlife]

There's a college that I want to attend that will require my parent to apply for a PLUS loan. My parent has really bad credit though and I wouldn't feel comfortable asking them to apply for a loan on top of the debt they already have. It's not likely that they would get approved but I don't want to risk the chance that they could be approved.

The school said that if my parent wasn't approved for the loan my Stafford loan would increase to help pay.

What should I do?

This sounds like BS to me - that a college would go after parent PLUS before the Stafford limit is reached. Sounds like a bookkeeping strategy, not a strategy to help you.

Staffords are the cheapest loans and should be used up before other options. Go back and tell them you don't have support for a parent loan and you need Staffords. Don't back down.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Brando989]

This sounds like BS to me - that a college would go after parent PLUS before the Stafford limit is reached. Sounds like a bookkeeping strategy, not a strategy to help you.

Staffords are the cheapest loans and should be used up before other options. Go back and tell them you don't have support for a parent loan and you need Staffords. Don't back down.

Best of luck to you.

So it's the school's financial aid policy then? Has anybody else been told that their parent had to apply for a PLUS loan?

 

[Brando989]

Okay I just got a message from the Financial adviser and he said that it's not required for the parents to apply for a PLUS loan but if there is a balance then a payment plan needs to be set up. He didn't mention the Stafford loan at all. Is a private loan an option?