Federal Graduate PLUS loans are loans that graduate students can borrow to help pay for their educational expenses, as long as the student is an eligible, independent, graduate student enrolled at least half time (four graduate hours).

The Federal Graduate PLUS Loan can be used to borrow funds up to your Cost of Attendance, minus Federal Stafford Loans and/or other assistance you have received.

Graduate PLUS loans typically have better terms and more flexible eligibility criteria than private alternative loans. Maximum loan fees and repayment interest rates are set by federal regulations. Graduate PLUS loans are subject to a maximum 3% origination fee and 1% default fee. These fees, if not paid by your lender or guarantee agency, are deducted from your loan proceeds at the time of disbursement. Also, the maximum repayment interest rate is set at an 8.5% fixed rate. Lenders are free to offer incentives that can reduce the upfront fees and maximum repayment interest rate. Lender incentives are subject to change at any time without notice.

The repayment period for a Federal PLUS Loan made to a graduate or professional student begins on the date of the final disbursement of the loan, and the first payment is due within 60 days after the date the loan is fully disbursed. A graduate or professional Federal PLUS Loan borrower may receive a deferment while he or she is enrolled in at least a half-time basis at an eligible school. YOU will need to contact your lender to see if the deferment applies. Deferments are not automatic and will require that you submit the proper request.

At UNO, we require completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) before a Graduate PLUS Loan can be processed. A FAFSA may be completed online at: www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Before your loan can be processed, you must select a lender. There currently are over 2,000 lenders that participate in the Federal Family Educational Loan Program. For efficiency of processing, we have listed a few of those lenders below, with a short summary of some of the loan benefits they offer. We encourage you to visit their website for more in-depth information. Lenders on the list below have competitive rates, longevity in the marketplace, a good history of customer service (including established electronic processing with UNO), and have demonstrated a continued commitment to the federal student loan programs. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and you are not required to select one of these lenders. If you prefer to use a different lender, you may want to contact the financial aid office for assistance to determine whether or not we can process their loans electronically. Paper loan processing can delay funding for several weeks in some cases.

Wells Fargo Bank

• 1% origination fee
• 0% default fee
• .50% interest rate reduction at repayment upon verification of graduation
• .25% interest rate reduction for auto-debit

Citibank

• 3% origination fee
• 0% default fee
• .50% interest rate reduction at repayment
• .25% interest rate reduction for auto-debit

U.S. Bank

• 3% origination fee
• 0% default fee
• 1% credit of original principal amount if first 12 consecutive payments are made within 10 days of the due date

ASAP/Union Bank & Trust

• 3% origination fee
• 0% default fee
• Waiver of last five loan payments if all previous loan payments made on time
• Waiver of two additional loan payments for auto-debit

Sallie Mae

• 3% origination fee
• 0% default fee
• At repayment, credits applied to loan account equal to 1% of each of the first 12 payments as initially scheduled
• .70% interest rate reduction for auto-debit