How to Apply for a Direct Graduate PLUS Loan

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Direct Graduate PLUS Loan, you must:

Before You Apply

Pick the loan period and calculate how much you want to borrow.

If you choose a fall/spring loan period, the amount of the loan will be split equally between the two semesters; so the disbursement of a $10,000 fall/spring loan would be $5,000 for the fall semester and $5,000 for the spring semester.

There are four loan term periods:

Interest Rate

Origination Fee

Create a Student Budget

The total amount you can borrow is equal to your Cost of Attendance minus other Estimated Aid (these figures are listed on your Financial Aid Offer in LionPATH). If you need additional assistance, you can use our Interactive Loan Calculation Tool.

Calculate the Loan Fee (Net vs. Gross) for 2022-23 or 2023-24

Divide the total loan amount you want to borrow by 0.9577. For example, to receive a net amount of $10,000, request a gross amount of $10,670 ($10,000/0.9577 = $10,442)

Your approved and accepted Direct Graduate PLUS loan will appear on both the Financial Aid Summary and Student Account Statement in LionPATH, however, the loan amounts will be different.

The loan amount on the Financial Aid Offer is the gross amount. In contrast, the Tuition Bill shows the net amount after the loan origination fees have been deducted.

Apply

Graduate students will need to apply for the Direct Graduate PLUS Loan on studentaid.gov. Like the FAFSA, PLUS Loans must be requested each academic year.

Preview a read-only version of the Direct Graduate PLUS application here.

Credit Check

You will be notified at the time that you submit your application if your credit has been approved or denied.

Your debt-to-income ratio, credit score, and employment status are not taken into consideration; however, adverse credit typically results in a PLUS loan denial.

For more information about adverse credit, visit federal student aid.

If you are denied the Direct Graduate PLUS loan, download the plus adverse credit pdf for more options.

Application Approved

If your application has been credit approved, your application will be sent electronically to us within 2-3 business days. Once the information has been loaded into LionPATH, we will process the application and add the Direct Graduate PLUS to your Financial Aid Offer. Processing for the upcoming academic year will begin in July. Spring-only in October, and Summer in April.

The application will NOT process if:

• You are not enrolled in a degree-seeking graduate program
• You do not have a FAFSA on file for Penn State
• You have not been offered your federal aid eligibility (either we have not started financial aid offers or you are not eligible for federal aid)
• You are in default on a previous federal loan

First-time borrowers are required to Complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Entrance Counseling for the Direct Graduate PLUS Loan at studentaid.gov. The Master Promissory Note and Counseling must be signed/completed for the loan to appear as a credit on the bill and disburse into your student account.

In most cases, you will only need to complete these items once during your college career. You do not need to sign a new MPN for every application submitted; unless your application is denied and then later approved with an endorser or it has been longer than 10 years since you have last signed a note.

You can complete these requirements at any time once you have been accepted to Penn State. Once we begin to process your loan(s), these items will be presented to you in your ‘To Do List’ in LionPATH if they are still incomplete. Once completed on studentaid.gov, notification will be sent electronically to us within approximately 2-3 business days. At that time, your To Do List item will be removed from your LionPATH record.

You can preview a copy of the Grad MPN or Grad Entrance Counseling on studentaid.gov or for more information and/or to complete the the MPN or Counseling log into studentaid.gov.

If you have technical difficulty signing the MPN, please contact the U.S. Department of Education's Student Loan Support Center at 800-557-7394.

Apply for the Direct Graduate PLUS loan