The borrowing gap
One year at a time: what the school costs, minus the aid you do not repay, minus your student's own federal loans. What is left is the gap - and there is a limit on how much of it Parent PLUS can cover.
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What the answer means
A gap is not a verdict on the school. It is the number a family has to have a plan for, and knowing it in the spring - while there is still time to appeal an offer, compare against another school, or decide differently - is worth more than knowing it in August.
Parent PLUS is capped at $20,000 a year and $65,000 in total per student for loans first disbursed on or after 1 July 2026. If the gap is larger than the cap, PLUS will not close it on its own, and what is left would have to come from savings, income, or a private loan - which carries none of the federal protections. Student loans in plain numbers covers the order to borrow in and what each kind costs you.