Federal Direct PLUS Loan

Applying for a Federal Direct PLUS Loan

CAUTION: Applying for a PLUS or Alternative Loan prior to receiving an Official Award Notice for 2011-12 could result the expiration of the credit check process, which is normally only valid for 90 days.

To apply for a Federal Direct PLUS Loan, a Master Promissory Note (MPN) is required.

This note incorporates multi-year functionality that will allow the student’s parent to borrow for multiple years without having to complete a Federal Direct PLUS MPN for each requested loan amount.

Application Steps

To apply for a Federal Direct PLUS Loan the following three steps are required.

1. Complete and submit a PLUS Loan form, to Student Financial Services.

To complete the following 2 steps you will need to Sign In to www.studentloans.gov and will need the following information.

• Your social security Number
• First two letter of your last name
• Date of birth mm/dd/yyyy
• Federal PIN number used to electronically sign the student’s FAFSA.  If the parent does not have a Federal PIN, one can be obtained from the U.S. Department of Education at www.pin.ed.gov.
2. Complete an online PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN) at www.studentloans.gov on the left hand side under the heading “Master Promissory Note” click on “Complete MPN” and on the middle of the page click on “Parent PLUS”.
3. Complete an online request PLUS Loan with the Department of Education at www.studentloans.gov .  On the left hand side under the heading “PLUS Loan Processes” click on “Request PLUS loan” and on the middle of the page click on “Parent PLUS”.

Subsequent Federal Direct PLUS Loan Requests

For subsequent PLUS Loan requests you will need to complete and submit a PLUS Loan form, to Student Financial Services and request a PLUS Loan with the Department of Education at www.studentloans.gov under the heading “PLUS Loan Processes”.

Denied Federal Direct PLUS Loans

Dependent students whose parents are denied the Federal Direct PLUS Loan may be eligible to receive additional funds from the Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loan Program. A denial notice from the Department of Education will be provided to the school; at that time the eligibility for additional funds will be determined and processed according to the student’s request.

MPN Validity

The Federal Direct PLUS MPN is valid for up to ten years, provided that the parent borrows within one year from the date the MPN was signed. If the Federal Direct PLUS MPN is still valid, the parent-borrower need only submit the PLUS Loan Form to Student Financial Services to apply for additional funds.

Multiple Students

If the parent-borrower is applying for Federal Direct PLUS Loan funds for more than one student, a separate PLUS Loan Form (and PLUS MPN, if needed) must be submitted for each student.

Disbursement

Disbursement of Federal Direct PLUS Funds will occur as outlined below:

• If approved, the Department of Education will electronically disburse the funds to Minnesota State Mankato.
• If there is a balance owed on the student's account, Minnesota State Mankato will deduct the remaining charges from the loan.
• If there are funds remaining after University charges are satisfied, those funds will be delivered to either the parent or the student depending on what was chosen in the application process.