Academics · Subject Resources · Parent loans

The PLUS loan,
priced in full.

Type each year’s cost, other aid and the PLUS amount. The calculator checks the limits, takes off the fee, adds the interest that builds while payments are deferred, and shows the monthly payment and the total.

Price my PLUS loanWhat you get

The Parent PLUS cost calculator

The worked example is a parent borrowing $12,000 a year for four years at a public university, deferred while the student is enrolled. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

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What you get

Academics · Subject ResourcesFree

What you finish with
Each year’s loan checked against the limits, what reaches the school, the cost still uncovered, the balance at repayment, the term, the monthly payment, the total repaid and the PLUS borrowing left. It prints as a one-page summary to keep with the aid offer.
Who it is for
Parents and guardians deciding whether, and how much, to borrow for a dependent student’s college costs, before they sign a PLUS Master Promissory Note.
Format
Browser calculator for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Subject Resources space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Pick when the loans are made.
  2. Add each year’s cost and aid.
  3. Type the PLUS amount.
  4. Choose deferment and the plan.
  5. Read the payment and total.

Price my PLUS loan

How the loan is priced

Limits and fee first, then interest and the payment.

The worked example: four years at a public universityBorrowed$48,000$12,000 a yearDeferment+$11,801interest buildsBalance$59,80120-year termPayment$535.74a monthThe worked example: four years at a public universityBorrowed$48,000$12,000 a yearDeferment+$11,801interest buildsBalance$59,80120-year termPayment$535.74a month
Each PLUS loan starts building interest when it is paid out. Deferred until six months after the student leaves school, that interest is added to the balance, and the balance sets the term and the payment.

What a Parent PLUS loan is

A Direct PLUS loan for parents is a federal loan in the parent’s name for a dependent undergraduate’s costs. It needs a credit check for an adverse history, not a score. It can be at most the cost of attendance minus other aid. For loans made on or after July 1, 2026, the 2025 reconciliation law also caps it at $20,000 a year and $65,000 in all for each student, and those loans are repaid on the Standard plan, 10 to 25 years depending on the balance, without the income-based Repayment Assistance Plan.

The fee and interest in deferment

The origination fee, 4.228% for loans first disbursed before October 1, 2026, comes off each disbursement, so the school receives less than the loan amount while the full amount is repaid. Interest starts at each disbursement. Parents can defer payments while the student is enrolled at least half time and for six months after; the interest that builds is then added to the balance. 8.94% is the 2025–26 rate; each award year has its own fixed rate.

Sources

  1. Federal Student Aid. Parent PLUS Loans: eligibility, borrowing up to the cost of attendance minus other aid, and deferment (studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans/plus/parent).
  2. Federal Student Aid. Interest rates and fees for federal student loans, 2025–26: 8.94% PLUS rate, 4.228% fee (studentaid.gov).
  3. Public Law 119-21 (2025), Title VIII: Parent PLUS limits of $20,000 a year and $65,000 in all, the tiered Standard plan and the Repayment Assistance Plan for loans made on or after July 1, 2026 (congress.gov).
  4. U.S. Department of Education. 2025–26 Federal Student Aid Handbook, Volume 8: Direct PLUS loans (fsapartners.ed.gov).

An estimate. Your aid offer, the PLUS Master Promissory Note and your loan servicer decide the real amounts; check studentaid.gov for the current year’s rate and fee. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.