Answer
Parents are not required to apply for the PLUS loan, it is purely optional. Even though it is optional, completing the application can still benefit the student. If a parent applies and gets approved, they do not need to take the loan. However, if the parent applies and is denied, the student can get more Unsubsidized loan funding themselves.
* Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook 2022. BLS estimates do not represent entry-level wages and/or salaries. Multiple factors, including prior experience, age, geography market in which you want to work and degree field, will affect career outcomes and earnings. Herzing neither represents that its graduates will earn the average salaries calculated by BLS for a particular job nor guarantees that graduation from its program will result in a job, promotion, salary increase or other career growth.