Last Updated: 1/14/2021
If savings, scholarships, and grants aren’t enough to fully fund your college education, you might be considering taking out a private student loan. While you want to make sure that you’re getting the best deal possible, it’s also important to ensure that you’re working with a reputable lender.
Securing a student loan with reasonable interest rates and borrower-friendly repayment terms will allow you to invest in your future, knowing that you won’t be saddled with unreasonable debt after you graduate.
College Ave is one of the newest and most-innovative lenders in the private student loan marketplace.
What Are the Benefits of a College Ave Student Loan?
College Ave stands out in two areas: flexibility and ease of use.
If you want extremely flexible loan repayment options, you should definitely consider looking into student loans from College Ave.
College Ave allows multiple repayment options. For example, if you’re a student, you can opt to make full-principal plus interest payments, interest-only payments, or flat payments of amounts as low as $25 per month while you’re still in school. Borrowers may also defer payments until school is complete.
Key features of a student loans from College Ave:
Sallie Mae® has developed a wide range of private education loans, and other education-related services to help make students' dreams of higher education a reality.
Why Get a Student Loan from Sallie Mae?
Students and families can invest in their education with private education loans designed to responsibly bridge the gap between personal resources and federal student aid.
Private education loans:
Sallie Mae is committed to serving their borrowers so they can successfully pay their loans and build their credit.
Key features of Smart Option Student Loan® from Sallie Mae:
SoFi helps undergrads pay for college without the hassle. See rates and terms in just minutes—and get access to tips, tools, and resources along the way.
Why Get A Student Loan Through SoFi?
A better way to pay for school. SoFi’s helped 300,000+ grads refinance their student debt. Now we’re helping undergraduates pay for school with competitive-rate private school loans.
Key features of a student loans from SoFi:
Citizens One is an established bank with a solid history in student lending.
Why Get a Student Loan from Citizens One?
Citizens One offers student loans for undergraduate and graduate studies, as well as parent loans. It also has special offerings for business and law degrees and medical and dental degrees.You can apply for a loan as small as $1,000.Maximum aggregate loan amounts are:9
Citizens also offers a multi-year approval option. 8With their exclusive multi-year approval, you could qualify now through graduation. No searching for a loan each year or having to re-apply. You just simply request your funds once approved.
Key features of a student loan from Citizens One:
Start your private student loan application now with Citizens One.
To help you borrow responsibly, Ascent has incorporated financial education into their application process.
What are the benefits of an Ascent student loan?If you're in the market for a student loan, Ascent has three unique benefits that you should pay attention to:
Ascent offers a 1% Cash Back** Graduation Reward if you meet certain qualifying criteria. This is a very unusual benefit among student loan lenders. Depending how much you borrow, your reward could be enough to cover your first monthly payment ... or to buy a new outfit to wear on job interviews.
Key features of a private student loans through Ascent:
CommonBond entered the student loan marketplace five+ years ago with a novel idea: bring the concept of crowdsourcing to college loans.
Why Get A Student Loan Through CommonBond?
CommonBond entered the student loan marketplace five years ago with a novel idea: bring the concept of crowdsourcing to college loans. The idea quickly garnered attention from investors and CommonBond took off.Some additional key factors to consider:
Key features of a private student loans through CommonBond:
So where can you get the best deal on a private student loan for college? Which lenders have the best rates and terms? And which lenders can you trust?
At Nitro, we have relationships with several lenders that we’ve put through an intensive vetting process. We have researched and compared:
Let’s talk about what you should look for in a loan.
Having a variety of payment plans to choose from means that you can select an option that will set you up for success. For example, if you’re not able to make full payments while you’re in school, making interest-only payments until you graduate can prevent additional interest from accruing and inflating the size of your loan.
A grace period after graduation means that you’re not obligated to start making full payments on your loan right away. A typical grace period is about six months after graduation or after your enrollment drops to half-time.
Few incoming college students have the credit history to qualify for a loan on their own. Most reputable lenders will allow you to release your cosigner from their obligation after you’ve established your own positive credit history and made a certain number on of-time payments. It's a great way to thank your cosigner for their help.
Many lenders offer reduced interest rates to qualified lenders. For example, signing up for autopay can often yield a discount of 0.25 percentage points. That quarter of a percent can save you a lot of money over the life of your loan.
Interest Rate Discounts | Multi-year Borrower Option | Repayment Options (Monthly) | Cosigner Release | Grace Period | ||
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Interest Rate Discounts | ||||||
Top Visited Lender ![]() |
Auto-Pay (0.25%)1 | No | Flat Payment (In-School), Full (principal & interest), Deferred, & Interest-only | Yes | 6 months |
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0.25 percentage point deduction for auto debit1 | No | Pay now or later: Make interest payments, pay a fixed $25 payment,3 or defer payments until after school.1 | Yes4 | 6 months1 |
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0.25% autopay discount | No | Deferred Payment, Fixed $25 Payment, Interest-Only Payment, Principal & Interest Payment | Yes, after 24 payments of P&I | 6 months |
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Autopay (0.25%)3 Loyalty (0.25%)2 |
Yes8 | Full (principal & interest), Deferred, Interest-only, Immediate-Repayment10 | Yes4 | 6 months |
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0.25% - 2.00% discount for enrollment in automatic debit5 | No | In-School interest only, Deferred, and $25 minimum payment | Yes10 | 9 months |
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Auto-Pay (0.25%)1 | No | Immediate repayment, interest-only, fixed monthly payments in school, fully deferred | Yes | 6 months |
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What are banks looking for, specifically? To give you an idea, here’s what our preferred lenders typically evaluate when considering a new loan.
Min Loan Limits | Max Loan Limits | Annual Income Requirements | US Citizenship / Permanent Resident | Proof of School Enrollment | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Max Loan Limits | ||||||
Top Visited Lender ![]() |
$1,0002 | $80,000 (Up to 100% of school-certified Cost of Attendance2 | $35,000/year | Yes | Yes |
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$1,000 | Up to 100% of school-certified expenses5 | Yes | Yes |
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$5,000 | Up to 100% of Cost of Attendance as certified by the school | No limit however proof of income is required | Yes | No |
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$1,000 | Undergrad: $90,000 Grad: $110,000 Business/Law: $180,000 Medica/Dental: $295,0009 |
$12,000/year | Yes6,7 | Yes Half-time required |
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$1,000 | $200,000 | Cosigner minimum gross annual income of $24,000 | Yes* | Yes |
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$3,000 | Up to cost of attendance (or $200K) | No min | Yes | Yes |
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Important: Remember, most rising college students do not have enough of a credit history or consistent income to quality for a loan on their own.
Applying with a cosigner can help get you over that hurdle. Or, if you can’t qualify with your current cosigner, consider asking someone else. Keep in mind that cosigners do not have to be parents, guardians, or relatives. Even if you can qualify for a loan on your own, applying with a cosigner may get you a lower interest rate.
The first and most-obvious thing to consider are fees, which are one-time charges that are usually attached to a specific service. For example, some lenders charge an application fee or an origination fee, which is typically a percentage of the loan value. Note: None of our recommended lenders charge application or origination fees.
Next, you’ll want to look at penalties. Some lenders may charge a penalty for early pre-payment. There may also be penalties for late or missed payments. Note: None of our preferred lenders charge early pre-payment fees, which is one major reason we’re happy to recommend them.
Finally, you’ll want to look at the largest cost of all: interest rates. Interest is how you pay the bank for giving you the loan. Interest is charged monthly, based on the annual percentage rate of your loan, or APR. The higher the APR, the most you’re going to pay every month, and ultimately, over the life of the loan. A fixed interest rate means that you’ll pay the same amount of interest for the life of the loan. A variable interest rate may fluctuate based on market conditions, meaning that your payments may increase or decrease over time.
Here’s how our preferred lenders stack up:
Undergrad | Graduate | Parent | Fees & Penalties | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loan Type | ||||||
Top Visited Lender ![]() |
Variable (APR) | Variable (APR)1.04% - 11.98%1 Fixed (APR) 3.49% - 12.99%1 |
1.89% - 10.97%1 | 1.04% - 11.93%1 | None |
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Fixed (APR) | Fixed (APR)3.49% - 12.99%1 | 4.24% - 11.98%1 | 3.49% - 12.99%1 | |||
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Variable (APR) | Variable (APR)1.25% -11.35%1 Fixed (APR) 4.25% - 12.59%1 |
2.25% - 11.76%1 | 3.50% -13.12%2 | No origination or disbursement fees |
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Fixed (APR) | Fixed (APR)4.25% - 12.59%1 | 4.75% - 12.11%1 | 5.49% - 13.87%2 | |||
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Variable (APR) | Variable (APR)1.88 - 11.66%1 Fixed (APR) 4.23 - 11.26%1 |
1.78 - 11.73%1 | 1.88- 11.16%1 | None |
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Fixed (APR) | Fixed (APR)4.23 - 11.26%1 | 4.13 - 11.37%1 | 4.60 - 10.76%1 | |||
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Variable (APR) | Variable (APR)1.21% - 10.69%1 Fixed (APR) 3.99% - 10.92%1 |
1.39% - 11.14%1 | 2.13% - 7.44%5 | None |
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Fixed (APR) | Fixed (APR)3.99% - 10.92%1 | 4.39% - 11.39%1 | 4.69% - 7.83%5 | |||
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Variable (APR) | Variable (APR)2.46% - 12.40%1 Fixed (APR) 3.34% - 13.57%1 |
3.65% - 12.40%1 | N/A | None |
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Fixed (APR) | Fixed (APR)3.34% - 13.57%1 | 4.60% - 13.57% 1 | N/A | |||
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Variable (APR) | Variable (APR)3.52% - 9.50%1 Fixed (APR) 5.45% - 9.74%1 |
3.52% - 9.50%1 | N/A | None |
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Fixed (APR) | Fixed (APR)5.45% - 9.74%1 | 5.40% - 9.74%1 | N/A |
Hopefully some of the charts in this article have given you some insight into how different lenders compare. But there’s more to a loan than just crunching numbers. As we mentioned before, working with a reputable lender is key to ensuring that you’re getting a loan that you’ll be able to pay back.
College Ave is one of the newest and most-innovative lenders in the private student loan marketplace. The company was founded by veterans of the student loan business who wanted to make student loan process more transparent and flexible.
Key features of a student loan from College Ave:
Sallie Mae® has developed a wide range of private education loans and other education-related services to help make students' dreams of higher education a reality.
Key features of Smart Option Student Loan® from Sallie Mae:
SoFi helps undergrads pay for college without the hassle. See rates and terms in just minutes—and get access to tips, tools, and resources along the way.
Key features of a student loan from SoFi:
Citizens One is an established bank with a solid history in student lending. This lender also ranks high on the “feel good” scale, as it prioritizes charitable giving and offers financial literacy education in the communities where it does business.
Key features of a student loan from Citizens One:
Start your private student loan application now with Citizens One.
It’s wrong to lose your financial freedom before you’ve even had a chance to earn it! To help you borrow responsibly, Ascent has incorporated financial education into their application process and give you exclusive access to tools to help you manage your money.
CommonBond entered the student loan marketplace five+ years ago with a novel idea: Bring the concept of crowdsourcing to college loans. The idea quickly garnered attention from investors and CommonBond took off.
Key features of private student loans through CommonBond:
Apply now and find out your personalized rates with:
** Remember the following two items **
1.) If you apply with a cosigner, you may increase your chances of getting approved for a loan & you may get a lower interest rate, and
2.) If you apply through Nitro, any loan application fees will be waived.
Q. What do I need to apply?
For most student loans, you can apply online within a matter of minutes if you have the right documentation on hand. The information you might want to have at the ready includes:
Note: If you’re applying with a cosigner, you’ll need the above info as it pertains to him or her as well.
Q: What else do I need to think about when applying for student loans?
Before applying for private student loans, be sure to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, otherwise known as FAFSA. Doing so will help determine your eligibility for federal grants and loans, as well as some scholarships. Accept all of your grant and scholarship money, followed by federal loans, before applying for private student loans. Then, use our free NitroScore tool to determine how much money you need to borrow before applying for loans.
Q: Does it cost money to apply for a private student loan?
Some banks may charge an application fee. However, all application fees are waived if you apply through Nitro.
Q: How long does it take to get approved for a student loan?
Most lenders will require certain kinds of documentation, including your (and your cosigner’s) social security number, address, and employment or income info. If you have your paperwork in hand, it should take about 15 minutes to go through the application process. Some banks may approve you within a few minutes. If you have to provide additional documentation, that process may take several days.
Q: What’s the difference between a federal student loan and a private student loan? Is one better than the other?
Federal student loans are issued by the government and often feature lower interest rates than loans offered by private lenders. It’s a good idea to utilize all federal loan money that’s offered to you before applying for private student loans.
Q: Should I opt for a variable or fixed interest rate?
A fixed interest rate will remain the same for the life of the loan. A variable interest may fluctuate based on market conditions. That may affect your monthly payment, as well as your overall loan amount. Fixed interest rates are generally a safer bet, although finding a good deal on a variable rate might make sense if you’re only taking the loan for a short period of time, or if interest rates are expected to fall.
Disclaimer: NitroCollege.com is a free website designed to help students and their families evaluate how to responsibly pay for their college education. Before recommending any services we put lenders thru a vetting process that includes: the competitiveness of rates, repayment options and terms, any discounts offered, any fees or penalties to be aware of, responsiveness to customers and applicants, and the lender's overall reputation and history. Nitro is not a lender and is not involved in the private student loan approval process, nor do we make credit related decisions. The lenders profiled on our site are the ones who will issue and approve your private student loan applications. We will sometimes earn a bounty for recommending various products and services to you. Actual interest rates may vary depending on your credit score, income, savings, type of degree, and whether you apply with a cosigner. Here at Nitro we strive to provide the most up-to-date information, but you should always check with individual lenders for current rates, terms, and conditions before applying for private student loans.
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