Federal PLUS Loans

As a student entering college, it is very unlikely that you have a few spare checks lying around that you can cash and magically use to pay for college. Most college-aged students, ranging from late teens through mid-twenties, have no line of credit and cannot receive much money in loans if they need to do so in order to attend college. Therefore, a loan like the federal PLUS loan through the federal government and U.S. Department of Education makes it easy for you, as a potential college student, to use your parents' line of credit in order to gain financing options for your higher education.

How Your Parents Can Help You Apply

If your parents have good credit and you obtain them a copy of the Direct PLUS loan application, you are well on your way to cracking the college books and arriving on campus in the fall. Keep in mind that in order to receive a federal PLUS loan, you must be a dependent potential undergraduate at any college or university in the U.S. You also must be planning on attending college for at least half-time during the upcoming semester. If these all apply to you, obtain a Direct PLUS loan application and promissory note, fill them out with signatures completed, and hand them in to the financial aid office at your college or university.

Fill Out A FAFSA Form First!

Have you tried filling out your FAFSA form yet? If not, you may already be entitled to financial aid and/or loans and scholarships that could benefit you! While it is not required for you to fill out the FAFSA form to receive a federal PLUS loan, be aware that you could receive thousands of dollars without even having to use your parents' credit in the first place. Still, if you are not eligible for any other scholarships, the federal PLUS loan will enable you to receive financing for any portion of your college or university bill not covered by other financial aid (i.e. If college costs you $5000 a year and you already receive $4000 in financial aid, a PLUS loan will lend you the other $1000). Federal PLUS loans can help put you through college, even if you do not have a solid line of credit yet.

This article is distributed by NextStudent. At NextStudent, we believe that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and we're dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding as easy as possible. We invite you to learn more about how to get Federal Plus Loans at www.NextStudent.com .

My goal is to help every student succeed - education is one of hte most important things a person can have, so I have made it my personal mission to help every student pay for their education. Aside from that, I am just a pretty average girl from SD.

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President-elect Barack Obama listens to a question at a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - Democrats are growing impatient with President-elect Barack Obama's refusal to inject himself in the major economic crises confronting the country. Obama has sidestepped some policy questions by saying there is only one president at a time. But the dodge is wearing thin. "He's going to have to be more assertive than he's been," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told consumer advocates Thursday.



Auto executives, from left, General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger,  Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, and Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, before a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the auto industry bailout.  (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)AP - Desperate U.S. automakers ran into fresh obstacles from skeptical lawmakers Thursday as they appealed with rising urgency — and a new dose of humility — for a $34 billion bailout. Without help, said one senator, "we're looking at a death sentence."



Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard during heightened security checks at Chennai International airport in Chennai, India, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008. Indian airports were put on high alert after the government received warnings of possible airborne attacks. (AP Photo)AP - A Pakistani militant group apparently used an Indian operative as far back as 2007 to scout targets for the elaborate plot against India's financial capital, authorities said Thursday, a blow to Indian officials who have blamed the deadly attacks entirely on Pakistani extremists.



In this March 31, 2004 file photo, the entrance to the Blackwater Security Consulting Firearms Training Center is seen in Moyock, N.C. Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in the deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting of Iraqi civilians could face mandatory 30-year prison sentences under an aggressive anti-drug law being considered as the Justice Department readies indictments, people close to the case said Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008.  (AP Photo/Yoon S. Byun, File)AP - Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in the deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting of Iraqi civilians could face mandatory 30-year prison sentences under an aggressive anti-drug law being considered as the Justice Department readies indictments, people close to the case said.



In this Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 fiel photo Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference with President-elect Barack Obama, not pictured, in Chicago. With just over six weeks to go before Obama is sworn in as president, Clinton is scrambling to pay down some $7 million in campaign debt before federal ethics rules prohibit her from taking contributions to do so. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)AP - With just weeks before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in, his choice for secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is scrambling to reduce massive campaign debt before federal ethics rules prohibit her from doing so.



AP - A romantic marriage proposal on the Oregon coast turned deadly for the bride-to-be when a wave swept her out to sea. Scott Napper had taken 22-year-old Leafil Alforque to Proposal Rock near Neskowin Beach to pop the question at a place that got its name from couples ready to marry. Napper and Alforque had been dating since they met on the Internet in 2005.

AP - When you're smiling, the whole world really does smile with you. A paper being published Friday in a British medical journal concludes that happiness is contagious — and that people pass on their good cheer even to total strangers. American researchers who tracked more than 4,700 people in Framingham, Mass., as part of a 20-year heart study also found the transferred happiness is good for up to a year.

In this April 19, 2007 file photo, Erik Estrada poses on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Nick Ut, file)AP - Erik Estrada has returned to Muncie to take part in overnight police patrols in the city where he starred in the short-lived reality series "Armed & Famous." The former star of the 1970s motorcycle cop drama "CHiPs" is a reserve officer on the Muncie Police Department.



AP - A Vero Beach man faces a domestic violence charge after authorities said he assaulted his girlfriend with a cheeseburger. An Indian River County Sheriff's Office arrest report said a 22-year-old man and his girlfriend got into an argument as they sat in a car in front of their home.

Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery leaves a meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008  in New York. The NHL suspended  Avery indefinitely on Tuesday, Dec. 2 for making a crude reference to former girlfriends while talking with reporters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)AP - Sean Avery surged past camera crews and reporters Thursday, choosing to save his comments this time for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman during a three-hour disciplinary hearing. The Dallas Stars forward was suspended indefinitely on Tuesday just hours after he used a crude expression to describe former girlfriends now dating others while speaking to reporters.



Richard Wagoner, Chairman and CEO of General Motors, testifies during the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the financial assistance package for the big Detroit automakers on Capitol Hill, December 4, 2008. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)Reuters - The CEOs of General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC said they would consider restarting talks about a merger during a nearly six-hour congressional grilling on the industry's pleas for $34 billion in government aid.



The AT and T logo in an undated photo. AT and T said on Thursday it would eliminate 12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its workforce, as it joins a raft of corporations trying to slash costs in the face of the economic downturn. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Top U.S. phone company AT&T Inc said it will eliminate 12,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce, in a fresh wave of cuts to cope with an economic downturn that has exacerbated a decline in traditional phone sales.



European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet (L) and Belgium's National Bank Governor Guy Quaden arrive for a news conference at the end of an ECB Governors Council meeting in Brussels, December 4, 2008. (Eric Vidal/Reuters)Reuters - Central banks in Europe slashed their benchmark interest rates by record amounts on Thursday to fight the global economic crisis, while U.S. automakers pleaded for a bailout to avoid collapse.



Two members of the Indian security force (R), one armed and one unarmed, take cover behind a wall and return fire at gunmen (top) at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai November 26, 2008. (ANI via REUTERS TV/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday Pakistan had given assurances of its commitment to root out terrorism and round up anyone connected to last week's attack in the Indian city of Mumbai.



U.S. soldiers of 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division stands guard outside a mosque in the Hurriya district northwest of Baghdad December 3, 2008. (Erik de Castro/Reuters)Reuters - Iraq's Presidency Council has approved a security pact with the United States that paves the way for a complete U.S. troop pullout by the end of 2011, a spokesman for the council said on Thursday.



A shopkeeper is seen at an electronics shop in Moscow during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's annual question-and-answer session with the Russian people, December 4, 2008. (Denis Sinyakov/Reuters)Reuters - The United States will quickly feel a change in attitude from Moscow if President-elect Barack Obama transforms Washington's policies toward Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.



Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej attends the annual Trooping of the Colour, an annual military parade, in Bangkok's Royal Plaza, December 2, 2008. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)Reuters - Thailand's revered and influential king missed his traditional birthday eve address due to illness on Thursday, a speech many Thais had hoped would provide short-term relief to the country's intractable political crisis.



A still from a 2002 advertising campaign launched by the U.S. government to persuade Muslims around the world that U.S. Muslims are free to live and worship as they wish. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Hate crimes against Arab Americans have decreased steadily since the September 11 attacks but are still more common than they were before the hijackings, a civil rights group said on Thursday.



European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet gives a press conference after a meeting of ECB governors in Brussels. Leading European central banks took historic action Thursday to ward off spreading recessions, slashing their key lending rates to boost businesses and consumers.(AFP/BELGA/Dirk Waem)AFP - Leading European central banks took historic action Thursday to ward off spreading recessions, slashing their key lending rates to boost businesses and consumers.



A map locating the western Iraqi city of Fallujah. Car bombers killed at least 15 people in a former rebel bastion on Thursday as Iraq's security pact with Washington won final approval before its launch at the end of the month.(AFP/Graphic)AFP - Car bombers killed at least 15 people in a former rebel bastion on Thursday as Iraq's security pact with Washington won final approval before its launch at the end of the month.




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