@BelknapPoint Sorry, I suppose I did word things a bit funny. I did look at that site and that’s what confused me. Going by the graphic they have, I would assume that my mom shouldn’t have been able to take out the PLUS loan in January since 2017 is the year I turn 24. USC’s financial aid site also says that the 2016-2017 award year lasts until June 30, 2017 so I just find it odd that she would be able to take out the loan five months earlier, but not now. The PLUS loan is pretty much the only loan that my mom is able to qualify for. Her credit score is in the low 500 range; it’s limited but she doesn’t have anything “adverse”/bad, so I assume that’s why she passes the credit check. With that score though, I really doubt she would qualify for a private loan and nobody in my extended family has decent credit, so a co-signer probably wouldn’t help much. I’m just not sure what other options we have to explore. She applied for the PLUS loan in early May, so I don’t know why they didn’t just automatically reject it if we didn’t qualify anymore.