For many students pursuing their master's or professional degrees, the federal loans available to them don't completely cover the high cost of an advanced degree. Faced with tuition that still needs to be paid, many students only had one option and that was to look into private loans to fund the completion of their education.

Now, however, paying for a graduate degree may have become just a tad bit easier.

No need to have children
As of July 1, 2006, you no longer have to be the proud parent of an undergrad to take advantage of a PLUS loan. The GradPlus offers an almost identical loan to independent students pursuing their master's or professional degree. That could mean a lot of savings on interest when you compare the fixed percent rate of either 7.9 or 8.5 (depending on the program you borrow under) on the GradPlus to the potentially higher rates tacked on to private loans.

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Scholarships, grants, and federal Stafford loans will still be the mainstays of funding an advanced degree. The new PLUS loans are meant to fill any gap in funding when all other forms of financial aid have been exhausted. Given that grad and professional programs are rarely funded 100 percent (and it's even more rare that someone has money in the bank to completely cover the cost of their education), it's a pretty good bet that lots of students will take advantage of the new loan.

Getting there
To be considered for a GradPlus, you must be enrolled at least half-time in an eligible graduate or professional program. It's not an automatic given that you will be issued a loan, however. Although a high approval rate is anticipated, potential borrowers still need to pass muster as far as a decent credit score. Your debt-to-income ratio won't be taken into account, but you'll need to be considered creditworthy.