<p>It is true that this is a mess that the parents created for themselves – but unfortunately now that the daughter is mature enough to understand these issues, she is going to have to step up and assert some control at this point.</p>
<p>Whether she opts to stick with the 4 year degree or not, she’s going to have to sit down with her parents, make it clear that there is no way to transfer the debt and she cannot make any promises about payment – and ask the hard question: are the parents willing to take on additional debt, knowing that it will be their responsibility to make payments. </p>
<p>Whatever happens, the parents can NOT take on added debt for their daughter to complete her BFA with the expectation that daughter will be making the loan payments for them, at any time in the near-term foreseeable future. So the parents need to understand fully that the PLUS loan is THEIR responsibility – and if they can’t handle that reality, then it may be that the daughter will have to discontinue her education in any case.</p>
<p>My son was able to complete his 4 year degree transferring to to a state college for his final 2 years – he was able to pay his own way and actually came out of school with no debt. There was a gap period of 3 years between the first two years of college and the final two --so he was about age 25 when he graduated. I had a PLUS loan from his first year of college but it was a far more manageable amount – and of course I could easily afford the payments. </p>