Free handout for counselors and families

Parent PLUS loans: what your family can borrow now

A one-page handout on the new federal limits for Parent PLUS loans. Print it, copy it, send it home. There is no signup and nothing to buy. The longer explanation, with a year-by-year example, is in the Parent PLUS loan cap guide.

Counselors: print one per family. You are welcome to hand it out under your own school's name.

A Parent PLUS loan is a federal loan a parent takes out for a child's college. From July 1, 2026, the law limits how much parents can borrow. For many families, federal loans will no longer cover the whole cost.

The new limits

$20,000 a year for each dependent student.
$65,000 in total for each dependent student, over all the years.
For all parents combined. Two parents cannot each borrow the limit for the same student.
Each year, the loan also cannot be more than the college's cost minus the student's other aid.
Paying a loan off does not give you room back. Loans for the same student at another college count too.
A college may set its own lower limit. Ask each aid office.

Who keeps the old rules

Parents of a student who, on June 30, 2026, was already enrolled in a college program and had a federal Direct Loan for it, made before July 1, 2026.
For three academic years, or the time left in the program, whichever is shorter.
This year's seniors (Class of 2027) start college in 2027, so the new limits apply to them from the first year. So do younger brothers and sisters.

What it means for your gap

Your real cost is the college's cost minus grants and scholarships. Loans do not lower it.
The student can borrow $5,500, $6,500, then $7,500 a year in their own name. That did not change.
Three years at $20,000 uses $60,000, so only $5,000 of Parent PLUS is left in year four. Plan for a bigger gap that year.
Whatever federal loans do not cover has to come from savings, income, or a private loan.

The cost of the loan

9.07% fixed interest on Parent PLUS loans first paid out July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. Later rates are set each year.
A 4.228% fee comes off each loan paid out before October 1, 2027.
New Parent PLUS loans can only be repaid on the standard plan: a fixed payment for 10 to 25 years, depending on how much the parent owes in federal Direct Loans.

What to do now

File the FAFSA at studentaid.gov. It is free, and it is the door to grants.
Find your real cost at each college, then your gap after the most federal loans allow.
Ask each college about more grant aid before you look at private loans.
See your own numbers free at claimyourcollege.com: the cost worksheet shows your real cost and what federal loans can cover.

Prepared by your school counselor with ClaimYourCollege. Educational information, not financial advice. Confirm your own loan at studentaid.gov and with each college's aid office.

Sources, read October 13, 2026: Public Law 119-21 (congress.gov/119/plaws/publ21/PLAW-119publ21.htm); U.S. Department of Education, Frequently Asked Questions: Loan Limits, May 20, 2026 (fsapartners.ed.gov); FSA electronic announcements on 2026-27 interest rates (June 4, 2026) and loan fees (May 13, 2026).

Sources, with links

Every number on this sheet comes from one of these. All were read on October 13, 2026.

Public Law 119-21: the $20,000 and $65,000 limits for all parents combined, repaid amounts still counting, colleges' lower limits, the exception for students already enrolled, and standard-plan-only repayment with 10 to 25 year terms.
Frequently Asked Questions: Loan Limits (U.S. Department of Education, May 20, 2026): other aid subtracted first, borrowing at other colleges counting, who qualifies for the exception, and the unchanged student limits.
2026-27 interest rates (June 4, 2026): 9.07% for Parent PLUS.
Loan fees through September 30, 2027 (May 13, 2026): 4.228% for PLUS loans.

For families

The free cost worksheet shows your real cost at each college. Its "How would you pay for it?" section uses these limits for the year your student starts college and shows what federal loans can cover and what your family would still need. Nothing you enter is ever sent to us, and there is no account.

Also free: the FAFSA Night handout and the award letter guide.

Reviewed as of October 13, 2026. Federal loan rules and rates change. Always confirm specifics at studentaid.gov and with each college's aid office. Educational information, not financial advice.