PLUS Loan Calculator

Federal Parent PLUS and Graduate PLUS Loans carry an origination fee of 4.228% (for loans disbursed after October 1, 2020). This fee is deducted from your loan before it is applied to your student account, meaning the amount you receive is less than the amount you borrow. You must account for this fee when deciding how much to request.

Because the origination fee is taken off the top, if you only request the exact amount you owe, your disbursement will fall short and leave a balance due. The calculator determines the correct gross amount to request so that after the fee is deducted, the net disbursement exactly covers what you need.

The gross amount is calculated by dividing your Amount Needed by (1 minus the origination fee rate). For PLUS Loans: Gross Amount = Amount Needed ÷ (1 − 0.04228). This ensures that once the 4.228% fee is deducted, the remaining disbursement equals your Amount Needed.

Add up your Tuition and Fees plus Housing and Food costs to get your total cost of attendance. Then subtract any Scholarships and Grants and any Accepted Student Loans (e.g. Subsidized or Unsubsidized). The remainder is your Amount Needed, which you can then use to find the correct Gross PLUS Loan amount.

The gross loan amount is what you request and what appears as your loan balance — the full amount you will eventually repay. The disbursement amount is what actually gets credited to your student account after the origination fee is deducted. For a $20,000 PLUS Loan, the disbursement would be approximately $19,154.

Yes. Both Parent PLUS Loans and Graduate PLUS Loans carry the same 4.228% origination fee (for loans disbursed after October 1, 2020), so this calculator applies equally to both loan types. Note: graduate students beginning programs after July 2026 may lose access to the Grad PLUS program.

This calculator uses the 4.228% origination fee rate applicable to Parent PLUS and Graduate PLUS Loans disbursed after October 1, 2020. Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans have a lower origination fee of 1.057%, which is not covered by this calculator.

You can borrow up to your school's full Cost of Attendance minus any other financial aid received. However, borrowing only what you need is advisable since PLUS Loans accrue interest immediately and the origination fee increases your total repayment amount. Always recalculate using this tool if your costs change.