Nelnet says my consolidation has Parent PLUS even though I've never had a Parent PLUS loan — anyone dealt with this?
I have two Direct Consolidation loans (~$339K total) from 2019, currently sitting in SAVE forbearance. I need to get onto a new plan before July 1 and want IBR. When I try to apply on StudentAid.gov it keeps routing me to ICR. Called Nelnet and both the rep and her supervisor said that because of my consolidation, my loans are treated as Parent PLUS and I can only do ICR.
The thing is — I've never had a Parent PLUS loan. I went to school for myself. The PLUS loans in my consolidation are all Grad PLUS (FFEL) from grad school. My NSLDS literally says "Consolidation Loan With Any Parent Plus Indicator: No" but also has "Parent Plus First Level Consolidation Indicator: Yes" on both loans. So the system seems to be contradicting itself and Nelnet is going with the wrong field.
This is a big deal because ICR payments are way higher than IBR, and the same flag would probably block me from RAP too. ICR sunsets in 2028 so I could end up with zero income-driven options on a $339K balance. Cool cool cool.
Has anyone run into this with Grad PLUS loans getting misflagged as Parent PLUS in a consolidation? Were you able to get it fixed, and if so, who did you contact? Already reached out to TISLA but looking for any other leads.
TIA 🙏
Posted Jun 8, 2026, 4:34 PM UTC