Direct PLUS Loans

A Direct PLUS Loan is commonly referred to as a Graduate PLUS Loan when made to an independent graduate or professional student borrower.

How Funds are Applied Columbia University will first apply Graduate PLUS Loan funds directly to the student’s account to cover tuition, mandatory fees, campus-based room and board, and other eligible charges. If any loan funds remain, the school will issue a refund to the student borrower to help pay for variable educational costs, such as off-campus rent, food, books, and transportation.

Important Note for Living Expenses: Graduate and professional students who expect to use Graduate PLUS Loan refunds for living expenses should visit the Refunds page to plan their financial and housing decisions accordingly. Students will not receive refund funds for living expenses until after the academic year and classes have officially begun.

Application Process

1. Submit the FAFSA: You must first submit your FAFSA to be considered for Graduate PLUS funding.
2. Submit a School-Specific Request: Graduate and professional students seeking Grad PLUS funds must submit a Graduate PLUS Loan Request and Credit Check form to their respective school's financial aid office.
3. Sign the MPN: If approved, you must sign a Master Promissory Note (MPN) at StudentAid.gov, agreeing to the terms of the loan.
4. Complete Entrance Counseling: If you have not previously received a PLUS loan, you are federally required to complete online Entrance Counseling.
5. Adverse Credit History Requirements: If you have an adverse credit history but are approved for the loan (via an endorser or appeal), you must also complete PLUS Credit Counseling before funds can be disbursed.

Loan funds are disbursed directly to the student's Columbia tuition account. Federal funds may only be applied toward allowable charges:

• Tuition
• Mandatory fees
• Room and board (if contracted through the university)
• Prior year charges (up to, but not exceeding, $200)

When federal funds exceed the total of these allowable charges, the borrower is entitled to a Refund of the excess amount. Students receiving refunds for living expenses will have those funds processed only after their direct university costs have been paid in full by the loan.

If you receive a federal student loan, you are required to repay the borrowed amount along with interest. Interest is calculated as a percentage of the unpaid principal amount you borrowed. If you choose not to pay the interest as it accrues while you are in school or during a grace period, it can capitalize. This means the unpaid interest is permanently added to the principal balance of your loan, and future interest will be calculated on that higher balance.

You can learn more about federal student loan interest rates and capitalization from StudentAid.gov.

Repayment Options: Click here to explore the various repayment plans and options available for Federal Direct Loans.

The following table shows Columbia University’s Cohort Default Rates for federal loans on a three-year period. Data includes the percentage of a school’s borrowers who enter repayment on Direct Loan Program loans during a federal fiscal year (October 1–September 30) and default before the end of the second following fiscal year.

Rates can also be found at NSLDS Official Cohort Default Rate Search for Schools. Use OPEID 002707 for Columbia University in the City of New York.

The information in your financial aid file may be disclosed to third parties as authorized under routine uses in the Privacy Act notices called "Title IV Program Files" (originally published on April 12, 2004, Federal Register, Vol 59 p. 17351) and "National Student Loan Data System" (originally published on December 20, 1994, Federal Register, Vol 59 p. 65532). Thus, this information may be disclosed to federal and state agencies, private parties such as relatives, present and former employers and creditors, and contractors of the Department of Education for purposes of administration of the student financial assistance program, for enforcement purposes, for litigation where such disclosure is compatible with the purposes for which the records were collected, for use by federal, state, local, or foreign agencies in connection with employment matters or the issuance of a license, grant, or other benefit, for use in any employee grievance or discipline proceeding in which the Federal Government is a party, for use in connection with audits or other investigations, for research purposes, for purposes of determining where particular records are required to be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, and to a Member of Congress in response to an inquiry from the congressional office made at your written request.