It’s time to get educated on private student loans. Hopefully, you have already taken other important steps to find the money you need for college, including: Filling out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), applying for government grants and federal loans (like the Pell grant, Stafford Loan, Perkins Loan and the Federal PLUS loan), and looked into college scholarships.
Can you say you’re ready to check those items off your to-do list?
When all is said and done, you may find that money received from federal financial aid sources and scholarships just isn’t enough. This is where private college loans come in.
Approaching the world of private student loans can be a little overwhelming, but it doesn’t need to be.
Private loans are only slightly different from federal student loans for college, in that there are more choices, varying interest rates and repayment schedules.
Lucky for you, FinancialAidFinder has created profiles for all of the major college lenders out there, giving you the information you need to make the best financial aid choices for your college education:
Highlighted Private Student Loan Programs for College
Every student loan program is unique. The Financial Aid Finder staff has researched several reputable private student loan programs. Each loan profile page includes information about the lender, lending rates, loan fees, repayment terms, and more. Highlighted programs:
- Sallie Mae Student Loans
- Discover Student Loans
- Chase Select Private Student Loans
- PNC Student Loans
- Charter One Student Loan
- Citi Assist Student Loans
- CompleteEd College Loan
- Fifth Third Bank College Loans
- Wells Fargo College Loan Programs
- U.S. Bank Student Loans
- Student Funding Group Loans
- Student Loan Network Private Loans
- Texas Dow Employees Credit Union Loans
- SunTrust Education Loans
The Financial Aid Finder team makes blog posts about student loans, too. Keep an eye out for those posts!
Finally, don’t overlook the Government Student Loan information, which includes overviews of the most vital federal loan programs.
There are a few basics that you should know about private student loans for college:
- Not all loans are created equal! It is important to read up on all of the options before you make a decision about your student loan.
- It’s all in the fine print: Like checking accounts, investments and credit cards, most of the important information is in the fine print. This include changes to your annual percentage rate.
- Loans are binding: No matter what happens (except in rare cases) you are going to have to pay your loan back. Make sure that you are ready to make that kind of commitment before you sign anything, especially your promissory note.
Now that you know the basics, it’s time to start figuring out which loan is the right loan for your needs. You might be looking for a student loan for bad credit, or a loan that you can pay back over a shorter period of time. You could be looking for a loan from a specific bank, like Chase, PNC or Wells Fargo. Or maybe you’re just looking for the best private student loans. No matter what you’re specifically looking for, you are in the right place to do research, compare lenders, and find a private loan to pay for college.