<p>Back in May, I applied for and was immediately approved for a PLUS loan for son. I also completed the entrance counseling and the master promissory note. He is also getting both subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans; entrance counseling and prom. note also done for those.</p>
<p>When we got the bill for this fall's tuition, it said that his loans were confirmed, but the PLUS loan was under the "needing attention" heading.</p>
<p>His tuition statement was printed on July 20 and we received it in the mail on July 22. Also on July 20, I received an email from Direct Loan stating that they had approved the request for a PLUS loan and the school had been notified.</p>
<p>I am thinking that perhaps the Direct Loan notice to the school "crossed in the mail" since it appeared that the DL notice and the bill from the school both happened on the same day. What do you think?</p>
<p>One other thing about the PLUS loan application: when we got the financial aid letter from the school back in the spring, the loan amount that they indicated for us was based on the full year (both fall and spring semesters). However, the tuition statement was only based on the fall semester, and it appears that only half the PLUS loan amount was indicated on the statement. Do you have to reapply for a PLUS loan every semester, or did they just divide it in half that way because the tuition statement is only for one semester??</p>
<p>The plus loan is for the year and you do not have to reapply for the spring.<br>
D school sends the fall bill in July for an Aug 10th payment in full but the Plus loan has specific disbursement dates which may coincide after the due date. The schools take this into consideration. It takes time for this stuff to get updated and posted in the system. They always tell us to make an estimate of what your real bill is by “minusing” the expected FA including the loans and that is what you are expected to pay for the at that time. It usually works itself out correctly. If you are not sure the just call FA for clarification.</p>
<p>cgpm - my experience has been similar to milkandsugar’s for older DD. The bursar’s office should be able to “see” that the your S has a pending Plus loan and will apply it to the amount due as soon as the FA office releases the funds. I would call the FA office (or have S do so), just to make sure that they don’t need anything else from you, though. The “needing attention” could mean something else and you don’t want to just assume all is well.</p>
<p>I bet the tuition statement and the DL notice to the school did “cross in the mail.” You might give them a few days to update your record, and then call the FA office just to make sure all your ducks are in a row.</p>
<p>Another thing to know is that the loan is considered as “pending” until your son actually shows up and enrolls. (Lenders don’t like to disburse funds for students who never appear.) At D’s school, the loan doesn’t disburse until about 10 days after school starts, so for a short time it looks like there’s an unpaid balance. But the school can see that the funds will be coming.</p>
<p>Our bill is somewhat like milkandsugar’s. There are all the fees, then the grant, scholarship and federal student loans. That leaves the balance due. There’s a worksheet on the statement, where I subtract the loan that’s in process, leaving the new balance. I write the check for that amount. While you’re on the phone with FA, you could ask them if you should make any notations about the loan.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. I have been in touch with the school, as well as logged back in to DirectLoan one more time; everything in there is fine. A couple of days ago, the school said they are getting everything processed and to be patient. Of course, when they mailed out all the bills last week, I’m sure this week they are getting pounded with phone calls and emails.</p>
<p>This morning, I emailed again to check if anything has updated in the past couple of days; this time, I got an automated reply that the office is closed today (closed on Fridays in the summer), but the reply did state that I can subtract the pending PLUS loan amount from the amount due. So, yes, I think the PLUS loan is in there somewhere, just not showing up yet.</p>
<p>And LasMa, you are probably right that DL doesn’t actually “release” the loan until the student shows up. That makes sense.</p>
<p>Got an email from DirectLoan yesterday, showing the disbursement date as August 12 for the fall and January 3 for the spring semester. So, the money is there, in a holding pattern. It just took time for it all to go through the system. Next year, if we have to go PLUS again, I’ll know how it works.</p>