You Can’t Transfer a Parent PLUS Loan to Your Child—Here’s What You Can Do Instead

You cannot transfer a Parent PLUS loan to your child through any federal program. The parent—not the student—is the legal borrower, and there is no federal form, election, or process that changes that. Any solution that actually moves the loan out of the parent’s name requires replacing the loan entirely, not modifying it.

There is no federal way to transfer a Parent PLUS loan to the student. When a Parent PLUS loan is issued, the parent signs the promissory note and becomes the borrower. That borrower identity is fixed under federal law.

This misconception is common because the loan is taken out for the student’s education. But federal student loan rules draw a hard line between who benefits from the loan and who is legally responsible for it. In the federal system, those are not the same thing.

What this means in practice:

• There is no transfer form you can submit

• Consolidation does not change the borrower

• Repayment plans do not shift responsibility

• Forgiveness programs do not move the loan to the student

As long as the loan remains federal, the parent remains fully responsible for repayment. If the goal is to move the debt into the student’s name, the federal system has no mechanism to do that. The only paths forward involve replacing the loan or restructuring how payments are handled—both of which operate outside federal transfer rules.

The only way to move a Parent PLUS loan into the student’s name is through private refinancing. This does not modify the federal loan. It replaces it with a new private loan where the student becomes the borrower.

Here’s what that change actually does. The federal Parent PLUS loan is paid off in full. A private lender issues a new loan to the student. From that point forward, the debt is no longer federal, and the parent is no longer the borrower.

That shift comes with clear tradeoffs.

What you gain

• The loan is legally in the student’s name

• The parent is no longer responsible for repayment

What you give up

• All federal protections end

• Income-driven repayment and federal forbearances no longer apply

• Repayment terms are controlled entirely by the private lender

Eligibility is a real constraint. Private refinancing depends on credit, income, and debt-to-income ratios. In many cases, the student cannot qualify on their own, or the available terms are not strong enough to justify replacing a federal loan.

Federal Protections You Lose When You Refinance

Refinancing a Parent PLUS loan into a private loan permanently removes several federal protections. These do not transfer to the new loan.

• Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is no longer available

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) no longer applies

• Federal death discharge is lost

Under federal rules, Parent PLUS loans are cancelled if the parent or the student dies. Private lenders are not required to forgive the balance. If the student becomes the borrower and later passes away, the remaining debt may still be owed, depending on the lender’s policy.

When private refinancing isn’t viable, the only remaining option is not a transfer at all, but a payment arrangement. The Parent PLUS loan stays in the parent’s name, and the student pays the parent directly.

This approach does not change the federal loan. The parent remains fully responsible to the loan servicer. Missed payments still affect the parent’s credit, and federal collection tools still apply if the loan falls behind. From the federal system’s perspective, nothing has changed.

In practice, this arrangement usually involves:

• The parent keeping the loan in their name

• The student making regular payments to the parent

A written repayment agreement spelling out amounts, timing, and expectations

This is a fallback, not an equivalent substitute for transfer. It can work when refinancing isn’t possible, but it depends entirely on trust and follow-through. If the student stops paying, the federal government still looks to the parent for repayment.

A Parent PLUS loan cannot be transferred to an ex-spouse through divorce. Federal student loan responsibility does not change based on divorce decrees, separation agreements, or family court orders.

Under federal law, the borrower listed on the Parent PLUS promissory note remains responsible for the loan. If your divorce agreement says your ex-spouse will pay the loan, that agreement may be enforceable between the two of you, but it does not bind the U.S. Department of Education. From the government’s perspective, the borrower is still the borrower.

That mismatch explains why problems arise.

Even when a divorce order assigns payment responsibility to an ex-spouse, federal collection actions—such as wage garnishment or tax refund seizure—still apply to the named borrower if payments stop.

A parent on a Parent PLUS loan is not a cosigner. The parent is the primary borrower. That distinction matters because cosigner rules—like cosigner release or removal—do not apply.

The confusion comes from how the loan is described. Parent PLUS loans are taken out for a student’s education, but they are made to the parent. The student is never a borrower on the federal loan, and the parent is not backing someone else’s debt. The parent is the debtor.

What this means in practice:

• There is no cosigner release option

• The parent cannot be “removed” from the loan

• Responsibility cannot shift unless the loan is replaced through private refinancing

As long as the loan remains federal, the parent remains fully responsible for repayment—regardless of who benefits from the education or who actually makes the payments.