Preferred Lender

Citizens

Rates: Variable and Fixed rate paths tailored to credit profiles. Includes standard Auto-Pay interest rate cuts and regional banking loyalty incentives.

Fees: $0 origination, application, or prepayment penalties.

Options: In-school interest, flat payment, or complete deferral options.

Grace Period: 6 months.

5, 10, or 15 Years

Standardized, clear term selections that scale depending on the total loan balance, allowing for rapid principal elimination or extended payment stretching.

Direct phone lines via (877) 407-7594, secure web portals, and 24/7 real-time online account tracking. Managed 100% in-house from origination to final payoff, giving borrowers a single trusted point of contact. Sets a premium service standard as the only national student lender offering live, in-person assistance and on-the-spot application processing inside any of their brick-and-mortar branch locations.

Multi-Year Approval (MYA): Boasts a 99.6% approval rate for returning student borrowers who use their sequential multi-year funding feature, eliminating annual re-applications.

Cosigner Release Revolution: Sets an industry-best standard by allowing borrowers to apply for cosigner release at the very start of active repayment, completely bypassing the multi-year payment waiting periods required by other lenders.

Protections: Built-in loan forgiveness in the tragic event of borrower death or total permanent disability.

College Ave

Rates: Flexible Fixed & Variable options starting as low as 2.59% APR.

Fees: No application, origination, or prepayment penalties. Minimum loan amount sits at standard limits.

Options: Full Deferral, Interest-Only, Flat $25/month, or Immediate Full Principal & Interest options.

Grace Period: 6 months.

5, 8, 10, or 15 Years

Provides custom matching with four distinct term length choices, allowing families to perfectly pair their repayment schedule with their long-term financial plans.

Immediate Auto-Pay Benefit: The 0.25% interest rate deduction applies actively during the in-school period, allowing families who choose in-school payments to actively compound less interest from day one.

Cash-Back Rewards: Free automated enrollment in the Payce Rewards network. Students can link spending at over 10,000 online merchants, and every time their cash-back balance hits $10, it is automatically pushed into their loan account and applied as a direct principal deduction.

Earnest

Rates: 2.84% – 16.85% APR (Fixed & Variable). Includes a 0.25% Auto-Pay rate reduction and an additional 0.25% Loyalty Discount for returning applicants.

Fees: 100% Fee-Free ($0 origination, late, or prepayment fees). No minimum income requirement. Capable of processing high-dollar balances exceeding $100,000.

Options: Fully Deferred, Flat $25/month, Interest-Only, or full Principal + Interest. Supports custom bi-weekly payment scheduling to help pay down principal faster.

Grace Period: 9 months 

5, 7, 10, 12, or 15 Years

Offers a high level of term flexibility, allowing borrowers to customize their timeline in increments ranging from a short 5-year payoff to an extended 15-year plan based on their budget.

Underwriting Innovation: Utilizes non-traditional alternative credit scoring models, including looking closely at a borrower's Free Cash Flow (FCF) metrics alongside traditional FICO numbers.

Skip-A-Payment: Borrowers can opt out of one monthly payment per calendar year once they have established a baseline of 6 consecutive on-time monthly payments.

Guarantee: Offers a dedicated Rate Match Guarantee to match a competitor's lower offered rate with physical proof of offer.

MEFA 

Fixed APR: 3.29% – 8.89%.

Fees: $0 origination, application, or hidden fees.

Options: Immediate, Interest-Only, or fully Deferred repayment tracks.

Grace Period: 6 months 

10-Year or 15-Year Terms

Borrowers are offered a choice between a 10-year term for faster debt reduction or a 15-year term to establish a lower, more manageable monthly baseline.

Experience: Backed by over 45 years of education finance history. 

Launched a soft-credit check prequalification tool allowing families to check loan eligibility without any initial impact on credit scores. 

Release Policy: Co-borrower release available after 48 consecutive, on-time monthly payments.

Sallie Mae Bank

Rates: available in both variable and fixed options based on credit profile. Fixed rates range from 3.14% to 18.55% (APR: 2.89%–17.49%). Interest begins accruing upon school disbursement.

Fees: $0 origination fees or prepayment penalties. Requires a $1,000 baseline minimum loan size.

Options: Deferred, Interest Repayment, or Fixed Repayment models. (Unpaid interest capitalizes at the end of separation).

Grace Period: 6 months.

5 to 15 Years

Standard terms generally span 10 to 15 years depending on the loan amount, with options to adjust timeline trajectories through custom post-graduation programs

Empowered First-Call Resolution: Support staff are trained and authorized to establish immediate, customized financial assistance options over the phone including extended repayment schedules, temporary interest rate reductions, or short-term hardship forbearance right over the call.

Graduated Repayment Tracks: Offers a transitional interest-only structure immediately following the grace period to ease the cash-flow burden of grads entering the workforce.