Private Student Loan

Susan Kelly Updated on Jan 19, 2024

Private student loans are a kind of loan product given by private organizations such as banks, credit unions, and online finance businesses to college students to assist them in meeting the financial obligations associated with the pursuit of an appropriate academic degree. For instance, Citizens Bank is a private lender that provides a range of loan products for higher education, such as loans for undergraduate students, loans for graduate students, loans for parents, and refinancing for students who already have student loans.

College Ave

College Ave is an online marketplace for obtaining student loans, with headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. The only goal of the lender is to make earning a college degree less of a financial burden for students and their families by assisting with paying for the steadily growing expense of higher education.

When you take out a loan with College Ave, you will have the opportunity to use the company's Multi-Year Peace of MindTM feature. When applying with a cosigner, ninety percent of undergraduate borrowers are approved for extra loans to be used in subsequent years. This advantage is responsible for this high approval rate.

Sallie Mae

The most well-known service provider of student loans, Sallie Mae, has its corporate headquarters in Newark in the state of Delaware. When it was initially founded, it functioned as a government organization in charge of servicing school loans. Sallie Mae now has a dominant position in the private student loans market and controls most of the market share. In addition, it has increased the scope of the goods it provides to include a wider variety of alternatives, such as credit cards, savings accounts, and other possibilities.

Borrowers who work with Sallie Mae can take advantage of several different advantages, including free access to Chegg® for four months, the Multi-Year Advantage, and not having to pay any origination or application fees. Students who have completed their first year of undergraduate study, have a cosigner and apply for a future loan via Multi-Year Advantage have a ninety-five percent probability of having their loan application granted.

Earnest

Earnest is a web-based financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. The financial institution was established with the intention of rendering higher education accessible and within everyone's financial means.

Earnest does not charge any fees for its loans, which is one of the most significant advantages of using the service. The phrase "no costs to apply" is used by several different lenders to sell their student loans; however, this solely applies to the origination and application fees. When you apply for a loan via Earnest, you won't be required to pay any application costs, and you also won't be required to pay any penalties if you pay off your loan early or make any late payments.

Ascent

Ascent is an online lender that provides student loans and is headquartered in San Diego, California. Its provision of student loans is distinctive compared to other lenders since it gives borrowers a choice between three distinct repayment plans. The typical cosigned loan is one of these possibilities, as is the non-cosigned credit-based loan and the non-cosigned future income-based loan.

Borrowers searching for protection from payback will be pleased to learn that Ascent provides several deferring and forbearing payment choices. College loans offered by Ascent are eligible for deferment for those currently serving in the military, enrolled full-time in an educational institution, or are doing a residency or internship.

Loans may include administrative forbearance, temporary hardship forbearance, and forbearance in the event of a natural catastrophe or a proclaimed emergency if they are taken out by individuals experiencing financial difficulties. Your loan's payback period will be stretched over a longer period if you choose any of these three alternatives.

SoFi

SoFi became first firm in 2012 to refinance federal and private student loans, which catapulted it to the forefront of the industry. One of the most compelling arguments in favor of taking out a loan from SoFi is undeniably the extensive variety of member perks made accessible to them. These advantages may be divided into financial, social, and professional.