I tried researching this, but couldn’t find anything. I know that for Stafford Loans you have to take a minimum of 6 credit hours, but what about a Parent Plus Loan? I’m taking 6 hours this summer, but thinking about dropping one class. Thanks in advance.
Your Plus is only good up to the cost of attendance. And you must be a matriculated student.
So you’re saying that there is no minimum amount of credits that students have to take to keep the loan?
I don’t know…but thought you had to be a matriculated student taking at least a half time course load.
Why would you take a plus loan for three credits?
We got the loan because I’m supposed to be taking 6 credits, but now I’m thinking about dropping one of the classes. I’ve already contacted my school but they’re generally not that helpful, so I was hoping someone on here would know.
If you already got,the loan, then why are you asking? They gave you the loan.
Well technically, it hasn’t been disbursed yet. And I’m also asking because I know that, for example, with Stafford loans, if you’re taking 6 credits and you drop a class after it’s been disbursed, you would no longer be eligible for the loan and would have to pay for the one class out of pocket. If this is the same for the Plus Loan, I’d like to know.
To receive a Direct PLUS Loan, you must
be a graduate or professional degree student enrolled at least half-time at an eligible school in a program leading to a degree or certificate, or be the parent (biological, adoptive, or in some cases, stepparent) of a dependent undergraduate student enrolled at least half-time at a participating school;
You’d need to know what constitutes ‘at least half-time’ at your school for the summer term. It may be one 3 credit class, it might be more.
You need to call your school and ask.
Why do you need a Plus loans for a 3 credit class? Is this at a private university?
@twoinanddone Thank you! Where did you find this? I tried multiple sites but couldn’t find anything like that - although I’m not sure if the graduate plus loan rules apply for the parent plus loan as well?
@mom2collegekids No, it’s a public university. We’re having to pay everything with loans and the pell grant, because I missed out on applying to colleges during my senior year in high school when I could get merit scholarships (due to homelessness and medical issues). (I ended up applying February/March, I think and by that time, I couldn’t get any merit scholarships at schools that would work for me.) I did contact the school, but they often take days to answer, so I was hoping I could get one on here before they answer.
I should probably also note that all of the loan wasn’t going to this summer tuition. What is left over is going to go toward next semester’s expenses.
You might be able to find out on the website how many credits are full time in the summer. In my day at my school, there were two summer sessions and you could take 6 credits each session, so taking one 3 credit class would be half time. However, your COA for that session, IIRC was 4 or 5 weeks, would be very low, just tuition and maybe a few hundred for a room, so I’m not sure you’d have any extra to pay for the fall.
I found it by googling Parent Plus and looking at the qualifications. No the grad school rules are different but they were in the same paragraph and I just copied it.
At the school I work at, a student must be taking at least 6 units over any of the summer terms for us to be able to originate a PLUS loan. I am sure this is very similar at many other schools.
6 credits is half-time at my school. That’s why I was wondering what the rules are. I guess I’ll just have to wait for the school to reply to be sure. Thank you all though 
I am sure your school will treat summer the same as a standard semester.
Have you already started classes? If not, why are you going to summer school??
It would seem like it would be BETTER if you just worked as much as you could this summer and put that towards college.
Borrowing all the direct loans and also PLUS loans is going to leave you with toooo much debt. Your mom can’t afford to pay back those Plus loans so it appears that you’re expected to pay them back.
What is your major and career goal?
Yes, I’ll basically be a sophomore (I say basically because I’m behind a couple credits and that’s why I’m taking summer classes). Working isn’t an option right now due to the aforementioned health issues. The classes I’m taking are online which is best for me right now.
The plus loan is only $4k. As we won’t qualify for the pell grant next year (2016-2017), my mother is planning to pay my tuition out of pocket. We just needed the plus loan until she was paid a lump sum of money she was owed. But my tuition is covered for this upcoming school year - I was just going to use the leftovers of the plus loan for any extra expenses :).
Major: psych/neuroscience and I’m pre-med.
No offense, if you are getting Pell grants, it suggest that your family is low income. It is not financially wise to be taking PLUS loans on top of your stafford loans. This is way too much debt. Is there an affordable option that you can attend?
This is the most affordable option. We’re not really worried about it, because again, we only needed the loan until my mother receives a large lump sump of money. Tuition won’t be an issue after that. (And we won’t get the pell grant next year either - my mother is disabled so she technically has no income, but the lump sum means no pell grant next year.)
In another thread, you mention that the large sum of money is about $100k. 100k may sound HUGE to you, but for someone with no income (your mom), that isn’t that much for her future.
You may be thinking that that money will be paying for your college, but really, your mom needs that for her future support.
I don’t know how FA will look at a lump sum settlement distribution. At most, it will likely ONLY affect aid for one year. After that, you’ll be back qualifying for Pell and other aid.
Again, I don’t think it’s a good idea to be spending that one time payout for college or towards loans.
If you’re serious about being premed and becoming a doctor, then you need to minimize debt.
Have the classes already started?
You don’t want to drop things if it will go on your transcript.
Perhaps it would be best to deal with your medical issues, and then return when you can go full time.
Is that a possibility?
I agree that low six figures is not going to last long if it is used for expenses.
How much can she put into a dedicated retirement account?