Financial GPS · for parents

Can I, the parent, afford it?

Parent PLUS under the rules for loans made after July 1, 2026: what you’d owe, what it costs to repay, and how much of your household’s income above basic expenses it takes.

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Wentworth Institute of Technology · Parent PLUS at 9.07% · standard plan only · judged on the 10-year payment

$1,052 a month on the 10-year yardstick: 44.5% of your household income above basic expenses, High pressure.

Billed on the standard plan: $749 a month for 20 years, from about age 54 to 74, past retirement at 67.

You’d owe $82,823 when repayment starts, including the interest that builds while payments are deferred during school.

10-year payment: $1,052/mo
Share of income above basic expenses: 44.5%High pressure
Left each month, before tax: $1,311 left

Wentworth Institute of Technology: Parent PLUS at 9.07% with a 4.228% fee taken from each disbursement. Basic expenses: $54,640 a year (200% of the 2026 federal poverty guideline for a household of three).

Parent PLUS by year, against the new caps

Parent PLUS
Above the caps

$1,000 of this plan is above the caps. The caps count every parent who borrows for this student. The rest has to come from savings, income, private loans or a lower-cost choice. Private loans are priced on credit and have no income-based plan either.

If your student was enrolled and borrowing before July 1, 2026, the old limit (the full cost of attendance) applies through 2028–29 at the latest.

Payments against retirement

What Wentworth Institute of Technology’s price asks of Parent PLUS

At Wentworth Institute of Technology, families earning about $83,000 pay an estimated $34,590 a year after grants. That’s between the school’s averages for families earning $48,001–$75,000 and $75,001–$110,000. After the student’s federal loan ($5,500 in year one), covering the rest with Parent PLUS would take about $30,435 in year one, more than the $20,000 cap.

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Household income

For a household of three: two adults and one child at home.

Parent PLUS each year

$16,500

You’d receive about $15,802 in year one after the 4.228% fee; later years get less once the $65,000 per-student cap is reached.

Also paying the student’s loans

NoYes (the median $25,028)

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How Parent PLUS works now

New Parent PLUS has no income-based plan and no Public Service Loan Forgiveness: the standard plan’s payment is the payment.

Its length depends on what you owe when repayment starts, including deferred interest: 10 years under $25,000, 15 under $50,000, 20 under $100,000, 25 above.

Already repaying Parent PLUS for an older child? A new loan moves those onto the new standard plan too.

Loans made from July 2027 can’t be paused for unemployment or hardship.

10-year payment at 2026-2027 federal rates (9.07% Parent PLUS, 4.228% fee): a yardstick, not a repayment plan. Interest builds from each disbursement while payments are deferred, and is added when repayment starts six months after the student leaves school. Basic expenses: 200% of the 2026 federal poverty guideline for a household of three, a national figure that doesn’t reflect local costs. Net price: the school’s reported averages by family income, estimated between bands. Sources: College Scorecard via Azimuth; Federal Student Aid; HHS.