<p>Schooner -
Last summer, several of us here were asking the exact same questions you are. In fact, one of the parents used almost the same words - she said “What am I missing?” She asked her daughter’s college FA office that very question, and they agreed that, for parents with very good to excellent credit scores, private loans may make more sense than the PLUS loan, with its high interest rate and huge origination/guarantor fees. The private loan with parent as cosigner also has the significant advantage that payment is not required until 6 months after graduation (it probably is best to at least pay the interest during that time, though) – that way you are paying on your EFC while the kid(s) is in school, then paying down the loans after graduation (which you should be able to do pretty rapidly since you’re no longer making tuition and room and board payments). With PLUS, you would be scraping up the money for your EFC and for loan payments simultaneously.</p>
<p>Here are the threads on which this discussion occurred last summer:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/743865-student-vs-parent-loans.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/743865-student-vs-parent-loans.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/749537-private-student-loan-interest-rates.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/749537-private-student-loan-interest-rates.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/746477-holy-cow-its-really-happening.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/746477-holy-cow-its-really-happening.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/747837-best-private-loans.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/747837-best-private-loans.html</a></p>