Parent PLUS Loan Rejected. What Now?

Getting a loan rejection letter can be very disheartening and exhausting after the work you put into helping your child(ren) pay for their education. However, there are still ways to gain more financial aid through what is called an “appeal” process.

Most schools have these in place and you can get the specific details through their financial aid department. The most common way this process is handled is by sending in proof of income and a formal letter stating exactly where your finances are at, and why you or your child needs more money for school. It is best to do this process as early as possible because as the months move forward toward the beginning of the academic year, the financial aid pie is allocated to students on a first-come basis.
Some things that you should definitely do/include in the letter:

1. Detail about change in finances — if you lost 20% of your income… say so. That would make a substantial change in your family’s EFC and could potentially net your child a lot more money.
2. A brief description of you and your child’s efforts to raise money for school. Be genuine. If you show that you are making an effort (applying for scholarships, asking banks, etc.) you are much more likely to get more in return.
3. Last, but not least: make the letter clean, grammatically-correct and professional. It makes your request look more polished and let’s face it… people are more inclined to read and give attention to something that is easily legible and compelling.

Parent PLUS or a Private Student Loan? What should I pick?

If your child received their financial aid award letter and there weren’t enough digits on the page to cover tuition, you are definitely not alone. The cost of college continues to steadily grow every year, but financial aid has not kept the same pace. As a result, the gap between aid and cost continues to grow.
Once your child has exhausted the annual maximum for Stafford loans, the next step is to look at credit-based options to bridge the financial aid gap. Fortunately for you, there are quite a few lenders that all must compete with each other to make money and therefore give you an opportunity to minimize the interest rate on a new loan.
If you’ve read a few posts on this blog, you know the score on Parent PLUS loans, but what about private student loans? There are a few notable differences… and in some cases they can become more attractive than their federal counterpart.
Major Differences:

• Private student loans have variable interest rates (meaning they change with the index they are associated with… most commonly LIBOR or the Prime)
• They come from banks instead of the Department of Education
• Many banks offer special incentives to make a private student loan more worthwhile

At the moment, interest rates are quite low due to the Fed attempting to put the economy back on a growth track out of the recession. This means that the indices are at historical lows and with a creditworthy borrower, you can secure a great interest rate that can be as much as 5% lower than a Parent PLUS loan.
If you want to learn more about some of the incentives that private lenders offer, check out this blog on the Student Loan Network.
The bottom line is just do some research before you take out a loan. In many cases, you can save thousands of dollars in interest if you shop around.