1. Complete Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)with your student.
2. Student must have a Complete your Financial Aid File
3. Parent must completely fill out the Federal (Parent) Plus Loan Request form. You can find this form at our office or by visiting our website at https://financialaid.unm.edu/ and clicking on the ‘Forms’ link. This form can be submitted in person or via fax or mail. Our fax number is (505) 277-6326 and the mailing address can be found on our website. 
4. The parent will be notified of a credit approval by the Department of Education and will need to sign a Parent PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN). The parent, not the student, will need to complete the Federal Direct PLUS Loan Master Promissory Note through studentloans.gov. The parent will need a FSA ID to log into the site.
5. The funds should disburse 3-5 business days after the parent signs the Parent PLUS MPN.

The parent will be notified of a credit denial by the Department of Education.  The parent can choose to obtain an endorser or appeal the credit decision by calling 1-800-557-7394. Please notify UNM if the parent decides to obtain an endorser or appeal the credit decision.  UNM must make additional steps to ensure a loan in this situation disburses properly.  If the parent does not wish to pursue those options, UNM will award the student additional unsubsidized loans as long as the student fills out the ‘Student’ section on the bottom of the PLUS application.

To become eligible, you may take one of the following actions:

1. Obtain an endorser and complete PLUS Counseling.

• An endorser is someone who does not have an adverse credit history and agrees to repay the loan if you do not repay it.
• If you are a parent borrower, the endorser may not be the student on whose behalf you are requesting the Direct PLUS Loan.

1. Document to the satisfaction of the U.S. Department of Education that:

• The information causing the adverse credit decision is incorrect OR
• There are extenuating circumstances relating to the adverse credit history. (Note: Endorsers aren't eligible for this option.)

• The Federal PLUS Loan proceeds are applied to the student’s University bill at the beginning of the semester. Any remaining loan balance will be credited to the student in the form of a refund unless the parent indicates that any refund should be mailed via a paper check to the parent’s address provided on the PLUS application.
• If a parent is denied the Parent PLUS loan and does not wish to appeal the decision, the student can borrow additional unsubsidized loan funding by simply completing the ‘Student’ section on the bottom of the PLUS application.
• The Parent PLUS Loan Application includes a section known as the ‘Authorization to Pay’ section. If you answer yes to this question, you are allowing the loan to pay for the student’s charges at UNM. If you answer no to this question, you must make payment arrangements to pay the student’s account balance in full before we can release the credit balance. You’ll need to notify our office when the account balance is zero.
• Review our Parent PLUS FAQ’s.