Parents receive a PLUS loan approval or denial notification by mail from the U.S. Department of Education. If the Parent PLUS loan is denied, there are three options to consider. First, your parent should contact PLUS Loan Applicant Services between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday – Friday at 1-800-557-7394. PLUS Loan Applicant Services will be able to work with your parent to help determine their best option.
1. Appealing a credit decision
Your parent should contact the credit reporting agency listed in the letter from the U.S. Department of Education to obtain a free copy of their credit report to look for any errors.
- If your parent's credit report has incorrect information, they can work with the credit agency to fix the incorrect information. Then, your parent may provide documentation of the credit report error and the steps being taken to fix it to the U.S. Department of Education to be reconsidered for the PLUS loan.
- If the credit report is correct, but there are extenuating circumstances affecting your parent's adverse credit history, they may be eligible for a review for reconsideration of the PLUS loan credit decision. The documentation of the extenuating circumstance must be provided to the U.S. Department of Education.
2. Get a PLUS loan endorser
Your parent can obtain an endorser in order to co-sign for the Parent PLUS loan. Endorsing a Parent PLUS loan creates a financial obligation for the endorser, agreeing to repay the loan if the parent borrower fails to make payments. In order to complete the
Endorser Addendum located at
studentaid.gov the endorser will need:
- A Federal Student Aid ID. If the endorser does not already have a FSA ID, one can be obtained at the Federal Student Aid website.
- The loan reference ID number. This can be obtained from the denial notification received from the U.S. Department of Education.
Once the endorser completes the Endorser Addendum, the borrower will receive notification regarding the approval status of the loan from the U.S. Department of Education. If the loan is approved, the parent will be required to complete a Parent PLUS Loan
Master Promissory Note for Parents, even if one was completed during the original application process, and PLUS Counseling. The U.S. Department of Education will send notification to ASU of the approved loan. If the endorser is denied, the loan denial status cannot be appealed.
3. Request additional student Direct Unsubsidized Loan funds
ASU does not automatically post an additional unsubsidized loan when parents are denied the PLUS loan. There are specific limits on the amount of additional student Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans that may be awarded. The maximum annual amounts are $4,000 for freshmen and sophomores and $5,000 for juniors and seniors.
