How SFP handles Direct PLUS Loans

Determines Direct PLUS Loan eligibility

Undergraduate and graduate students may be eligible for a Direct PLUS Loan for each award year. SFP evaluates Direct PLUS Loan eligibility for each award year. It determines whether the student had a prior loan discharged because of disability or total and permanent disability and, if so, whether Comment Code 137 has been cleared. SFP also checks whether the student or borrower is a citizen of the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, or Palau. If so, the student or borrower must provide an Alien Registration Number. If the student meets the general Title IV eligibility requirements for a Direct PLUS Loan, SFP packages the student with the appropriate funding.

After the Direct PLUS Loan application is received, SFP considers the credit decision results when it determines the student’s eligibility.

Effective July 1, 2026, the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) terminates the Grad PLUS Loan program. Beginning with the 2026–2027 award year, SFP doesn’t package new Grad PLUS Loans. Existing Grad PLUS Loans that were packaged before this change remain packaged and aren’t removed because of this change.

Students who qualify for an interim exception may remain eligible to receive Grad PLUS Loans (GPLUS) for up to three years after July 1, 2026, even though new Grad PLUS packaging is otherwise disabled.

Determines if there's prior Direct PLUS Loan application for the borrower in the academic year

SFP can award multiple Parent PLUS or Graduate PLUS Loans within an academic year, including loans received by more than a single borrower.

To award multiple Direct PLUS Loans, you need to update the FAS Fund Config workbook (FAS_FUND_CONFIG.csv):

n the Fund_Code field, enter PLUS or GPLUS.
Reference a Groovy Script in the PLUS_Credit_Decision_Matching_Criteria field. In this script, you can determine the terms within a student's program that a Direct PLUS Loan application is matched to. When students are awarded Direct PLUS Loans using this script, the fund description includes the borrower name and application ID.

Evaluates the credit decision

When a student qualifies for a Direct PLUS Loan based on the final credit decision status for the academic year being evaluated, the application determines whether the loan period is past, present, or future.

If the borrower has an accepted or approved credit decision that's processed during the current academic year and it hasn't expired, the borrower is eligible for a Direct PLUS Loan. SFP doesn't award a borrower a Direct PLUS Loan if their credit decision is denied. If the borrower is denied, the PLUS Loan Denial Indicator is updated so the student can receive additional unsubsidized funding. If a new Direct PLUS Loan application with an updated credit decision is received, the application updates the PLUS Loan Denial Indicator.

The credit decision form name has been updated from Credit Decision Override to Credit Status Response. You can still see both forms in SFP depending on the award year the form was received.

Award years 2014–2015 and earlier: Credit Decision Override
Award years 2015–2016 and later: Credit Status Response

If a Credit Status Response message is received, the application considers the credit decision result while determining the student's eligibility.

If the borrower has multiple credit decisions, SFP first determines if the borrower has an accepted or approved credit decision and then uses the latest credit decision to determine Direct PLUS Loan eligibility. If the credit decision is denied, but the borrower has an endorser, the application obtains the endorser amount and considers the endorsed amount during awarding.

When a Direct PLUS Loan application/Credit Status Response file is received and associated with a student, SFP evaluates the credit decision status and calculates the application loan amount associated with the credit decision status. When a Credit Status Response is received for a student, the application considers the override code received within the file.

When a Direct PLUS Loan application or Credit Status Response file is received for a student, SFP determines if the credit decision is for a Parent PLUS or Grad PLUS Loan, the associated academic years, the credit decision status, and if applicable, associates an endorser amount to the credit decision status.

Determines the current and maximum projected award amount for Direct PLUS Loans

SFP determines the maximum projected award amount for the current loan period and all future loan periods in the student's program.

SFP also determines the Maximum Projected PLUS Award for an academic year in which all eligibility requirements have been satisfied and awards up to the amount unpackaged. The student's Maximum Projected PLUS Award is limited by either the Unpackaged Amount, the Endorser Amount (if applicable), or Application Loan Amount (if applicable).

Determines annual and aggregate limits for Direct PLUS Loans

SFP packaging uses National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) aggregate loan history, when available, to determine a student’s remaining annual or aggregate eligibility for Direct PLUS Loans. The calculation method is the same across loan types. However, the applicable limit and the NSLDS aggregate field or fields vary by fund and borrower type.

Borrowers with a loan limit exception aren’t subject to the new annual and aggregate loan limits while the exception applies.

For borrowers without an exception, the new annual and aggregate loan limits apply:

Annual limit: $20,000 per year across all parents for a dependent student, regardless of loan forgiveness, repayment, or discharge amounts
Aggregate limit: $65,000 lifetime across all parents for a dependent student, per enrollment

If an NSLDS record exists, SFP packaging calculates remaining eligibility using this formula:

Remaining Eligibility = Applicable Limit - NSLDS Aggregate Total + Total SFA Loan Amount - Sum of Disbursement Amounts

Where:

Applicable Limit (Aggregate Limit) is the applicable aggregate limit for the loan type.
NSLDS Aggregate Total is the applicable NSLDS aggregate value for the loan type.
Total SFA Loan Amount is the applicable institution-originated loan amount that’s included in the aggregate calculation.
Sum of Disbursement Amounts is the applicable total of disbursements used in the calculation.

If no NSLDS record exists, SFP packaging treats the student as having the maximum aggregate eligibility and doesn’t limit eligibility based on loan history.

Sets the final credit decision status

The final credit decision status is confirmed or updated when a Direct PLUS Loan application or Credit Status Response file is received and associated with an academic year.

The final status is used to determine the student's eligibility for a Direct PLUS Loan award. SFP packages a separate Direct PLUS Loan for all approved credit decisions received that have been matched to an academic year or term within the student’s program.

Once the final credit decision status is determined for an academic year, SFP sets the 'Plus Denial Indicator' based on the credit decision status.