Financial Aid

Graduate PLUS Loan Application

You may have been awarded a Federal Graduate PLUS loan in your award package. With a Direct Grad PLUS Loan, a graduate/professional student can borrow up to the cost of the student's attendance minus other financial aid the student receives. Your DSOL award  is not a guarantee of a loan, only an acknowledgement of the amount you are eligible to borrow towards your law degree for that academic year.  The Federal Graduate PLUS loan program is a credit based loan program. This means that you can apply for the loan but the approval will be determined your lender based upon a credit review. Based upon your Credit application, it may be required that you obtain a co-signer or endorser  for the loan.

If you wish to receive a Graduate PLUS loan, you must complete a credit application with Direct Loans and obtain approval for the amount you wish to borrow each year. You may apply for the Grad PLUS loan on-line at  https://studentloans.gov .

Each year when you apply for a Direct PLUS Loan, the Department will check your credit history. To be eligible to receive a Grad PLUS loan, you must not have an adverse credit history. If you are determined to have an adverse credit history, you may still receive a Direct PLUS Loan if you obtain an endorser who does not have an adverse credit history. An endorser is someone who agrees to repay the Direct PLUS Loan if you do not repay the loan.  An endorser borrower must also request a PIN number from the PIN site < https://pin.ed.gov>to use when completing a PLUS MPN.
In some cases, you may also be able to obtain a Direct PLUS Loan if you document to DOE’s satisfaction that there are extenuating circumstances related to your adverse credit history.

To view or print a completed Master Promissory Note (MPN), users will need to install the free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

If you have any questions please feel free to call the DSOL Financial Aid Coordinator.
Michelle Baird at  865-545-5326
Email: Michelle.Baird@lmunet.edu

Obtaining a Credit Report

A Credit Report will determine if you are eligible to borrow under the Federal Grad Plus Loan Program. If you would like to review your credit prior to applying for the GRAD PLUS loan, Federal legislation mandates that an individual may obtain a free credit report every 12 months from each of the major credit reporting agencies. Free credit reports can only be obtained on the web at the following website:
www.annualcreditreport.com


Credit Reporting Agency Information:

Experian www.experian.com
Equifax www.equifax.com
TransUnion Corporation www.transunion.com
Credit criteria used to review/approve Grad Plus Loans can include the following:

·         absence of negative credit
·         no bankruptcies, foreclosures, repossessions, charge-offs or open judgments
·         no prior educational loan defaults unless paid in full
·         absence of excessive past due accounts, i.e.. no 30, -60, -90 day delinquent consumer loans or revolving charge accounts

The three reporting agencies all have basically the same information; therefore, we do not recommend that you check all three agencies at the same time. Check one, then check another in three or four months, then check the third three or four months later. Continue checking them at intervals of three or four months so that you always know what is on your credit report.