***CONSUMER ALERT*** ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL WARNS PARENT PLUS STUDENT LOAN BORROWERS ABOUT UPCOMING CONSOLIDATION DEADLINE

***CONSUMER ALERT*** ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL WARNS PARENT PLUS STUDENT LOAN BORROWERS ABOUT UPCOMING CONSOLIDATION DEADLINE

March 24, 2026

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul is urging Parent PLUS federal student loan borrowers who have not previously consolidated their Parent PLUS loans to consider doing so by April 1. Recent federal law changes mean that parent borrowers with unconsolidated Parent PLUS loans, or who take out new loans after July 1, will have limited repayment plan options and be ineligible for income-driven repayment plans. Having unconsolidated Parent PLUS loans will also prevent most borrowers from receiving Public Service Loan Forgiveness for those loans.

"I encourage Parent PLUS borrowers to learn about your loans and to consider consolidating any unconsolidated Parent PLUS loans by April 1 to have access to an income-driven repayment plan," Raoul said. "An income-driven repayment plan can be the most affordable choice for many student loan borrowers, and enrollment is almost always required for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Find out more about what options are best for you by logging into your Federal Student Aid account."

Only consolidated Parent PLUS loans are eligible for income-driven repayment plans. After Parent PLUS loans are consolidated, borrowers can enroll in the income-driven repayment plan called the Income-Contingent Repayment Plan. Although this plan will phase out by July 1, 2028, once a Parent PLUS borrower makes one payment on an income-driven repayment plan between July 5, 2025 and July 30, 2028, they will be eligible to enroll in the Income-Based Repayment Plan.

Parent PLUS borrowers are encouraged to:

• Know their loans: Find out if they have unconsolidated Parent PLUS loans by calling their servicer or logging into their studentaid.gov account and looking at their Federal Student Aid (FSA) Dashboard. Once in the FSA Dashboard, click the "View Details" button to view the "Loan Breakdown" section. Parent PLUS loans that show a balance have not been consolidated.
• Be aware: Any unpaid interest on the loan(s) being consolidated is rolled into the new principal balance on the consolidated loan. Additionally, borrowers cannot use Public Service Loan Forgiveness Buyback to buy back time spent in eligible deferments or forbearances that occurred before their consolidation.
• Consider payment progress: Borrowers working toward forgiveness through an income-driven repayment plan should avoid consolidating Parent PLUS Loans with non-Parent PLUS loans because consolidation resets the payment count for income-driven repayment forgiveness to zero. Depending on the plan, income-driven repayment plans offer forgiveness after 20, 25 or 30 years of eligible time in repayment. To avoid losing progress toward forgiveness on other loans, borrowers should consider consolidating a single Parent PLUS loan by itself or only with other unconsolidated Parent PLUS loans.
• However, be strategic for Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Unlike income-driven repayment forgiveness, Parent PLUS borrowers working towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness may benefit from consolidating their Parent PLUS loans with other loans. When loans are consolidated, Public Service Loan Forgiveness payment counts are calculated by taking the weighted average of payments made on the loans that are being consolidated. Borrowers should certify their employment before consolidating.
• Be prompt: Loan consolidations can take multiple months to finalize. To make sure the consolidation goes through before July 1 - when repayment plan options will become more limited - the Department of Education recommends Parent PLUS borrowers try to preserve repayment plan access by consolidating any unconsolidated Parent PLUS loans by April 1.

Regardless of whether they consolidate their loans, current Parent PLUS loan borrowers will continue to have access to payment plans that are not income-driven, like the 10-year Level or Standard Plan, the Extended Plan and the Graduated Plan, for the life of their loan unless they take out any new federal student loans or receive consolidation disbursements, on or after July 1. For borrowers with Parent PLUS loans, any new disbursements on or after July 1 mean they will only be eligible for the tiered standard repayment plan, which does not count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Because Public Service Loan Forgiveness requires repayments to be made in income-driven repayment plans or the 10-year Standard Plan, most Parent PLUS borrowers with unconsolidated Parent PLUS loans will not be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Attorney General Raoul also reminds all student loan borrowers to be cautious about unsolicited phone calls, letters in the mail, emails, texts or social media messages from businesses claiming to offer student loan debt relief, and never give out their FSA ID or password. Federal student loan borrowers never need to pay to consolidate their loans, apply for repayment plans or be eligible for forgiveness. Borrowers can log in to their studentaid.gov accounts to apply to consolidate loans, change repayment plans or apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Attorney General Raoul encourages borrowers who have questions about their student loan repayments, servicers or scams to call the Attorney General's Student Loan Helpline at 1-800-455-2456, or email [email protected]. Raoul encourages those who believe they have been the victim of a scam to file a complaint on the Attorney General's website.