When prospective college students don’t qualify for enough federal funding, a supportive parent may step in to cover the financing gap. The Department of Education’s Direct PLUS Loan program allows parents to take out a federal student loan on their child’s behalf to cover any remaining education expenses.

While this is a popular solution to soaring education costs – more than 3 million parents are currently repaying PLUS loans – it also leaves parents with a major portion of their kids’ student loan debt. And, Parent PLUS loans come with a much higher interest rate than other federal student loans.