February 6th, 2019 | Updated on May 20th, 2024
Private Students loans are a great option if your federal student aid allotment is not enough to cover your educational expenses. Private student loans offer flexible interest rate options and repayment terms.
Although federal student loans are typically the most affordable, and you may be eligible for federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans, regardless of your credit, grades or financial need.
But there are limits on how much you can borrow each year, ranging from $5,500 for dependent undergraduate students to $20,500 for graduate or professional students. There are also total loan limits.
Private student loans can cover the gap between what you need for school and any federal student aid you receive, including grants, loans and work-study pay, as well as how much you can afford to pay toward your school expenses.
Check out list of the top private student loans offered by the best private student loan companies:
Top Lender For Up To 100 Percent Of Cost Of Attendance Financing
1. Ascent Funding
Ascent Funding offers more flexible loan terms and qualifications to give students more options.
Some benefits below are what makes Ascent the more valuable choice compared to other student loan lenders.
- Seamless Application Process: With Ascent, you can check your rate without impacting your credit score in just 5 minutes.
- Flexible Repayment Terms: Ascent understands that every student’s financial situation is unique. Ascent offers a wide range of repayment terms, including 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, or 20 years – with 30 different options available. Ascent offers plans that fits all budgets and goals, giving the flexibility needed to succeed.
- Competitive Interest Rates: Ascent strives to make loans accessible and affordable. With interest rate reductions ranging from 0.25% to 1.00%, they help save money over the life of the loan. That means more money for textbooks, housing, or whatever else needed to succeed in college.
- Extended Grace Period: Transitioning from college to the workforce can be tough, which is why Ascent offers a grace period of 9 months before repayment begins.
Top Lender For Special Degree Programs
2. Discover Student Loans
Discover is an online-only lender that has many traditional bank offerings, such as credit cards and checking accounts. It offers a wide range of private student loan types, including undergraduate, graduate, MBA, law school and health professions, as well as student loan refinancing.
Highlights
- Loan types: Undergraduate, graduate, MBA, law school and health professions loans
- Rate types: Fixed and variable rates for undergraduate loans with 0.25 percent autopay discount
- Loan terms: 15 or 20 years
- Minimum loan: $1,000
- Application or origination fees: No
- Autopay discount: 0.25 percent
- Other savings opportunities: 1 percent of your loan amount as a one-time cash reward, if you have at least a 3.0 GPA
- Early repayment options: $25 a month or deferred
- Deferment options: In-school deferment and up to six months after graduation or leaving school (nine months for nonundergraduate loans); interest-only, in-school fixed, deferred repayment
- Deferment due to financial hardship: Yes
- Discharge due to death or permanent disability: Yes
- Co-signer discharge due to death or permanent disability: Yes
- Co-signer release: No
- TrustPilot rating: Great
- BBB rating: A+
Discover Review
If you’re struggling to pay for college and you’ve exhausted scholarships and federal student loans, you’re probably considering a private student loan. Discover Student Loans can loan you up to 100% of the costs to complete your education, but its 15-year term and lack of a cosigner release after a demonstrated payment history pushes it to seventh place in our review of the best private student loans.
In addition to its high loan limit, Discover Student Loans can consolidate your federal and private loans so you make one loan payment. This won’t necessarily lower your payments, but it can make it easier to manage them. The private student loans offered by Discover have a repayment term of 15 years, which is average for the student loan providers we reviewed. However, other lenders like Citizens Bank and SunTrust let you choose between several repayment lengths.
Top Lender For Getting A Jump Start On Repayments
3. LendKey
LendKey connects borrowers with its network of community and regional banks and credit unions. It manages the application, support and servicing of student loans, while the capital for the loan comes from the financial institution.
Highlights
- Loan types: Undergraduate and graduate loans
- Rate types: Fixed and variable rates for undergraduate loans with 0.25 percent autopay discount
- Loan terms: 10 years
- Minimum loan: Varies
- Application or origination fees: No
- Autopay discount: 0.25 percent
- Other savings opportunities: Not available
- Early repayment options: Interest only or $25 a month
- Deferment options: In-school deferment and up to six months after graduation or leaving school
- Deferment due to financial hardship: Yes
- Discharge due to death or permanent disability: No
- Co-signer discharge due to death or permanent disability: No
- Co-signer release: After 24 consecutive full payments if you meet the eligibility, credit and income requirements
- TrustPilot rating: Not rated
- BBB rating: A+
LendKey Review
In the world of private student loans, LendKey is one of the best private student loan providers. It works with credit unions and small community banks to find the best rates for its customers. The maximum that LendKey will loan is $160,000. It also offers a longer forbearance period of 18 months and a short cosigner release period of 12 months.
Even with federal student loans, many students need additional funding to complete their college educations. With LendKey, you can borrow up to $175,000 to pay for your undergraduate education. The limits are even higher for graduate and professional loans.
If you have federal and private loans, LendKey offers to consolidate those loans. Consolidation can be useful if you’re juggling multiple student loan payments and don’t mind having a longer repayment term. (However, consolidating your federal student loans with a private student loan can disqualify you from some federal student loan forgiveness plans.)
Unfortunately, the loan term is 10 years. This means you don’t have the option of stretching your payments over a longer period of time, which reduces your monthly loan payment. College Ave and Citizens Bank both have shorter loan term options.
Top Lender For Discounts
4. SunTrust
SunTrust has a wide range of student loan products. It offers more opportunities for discounts than some other lenders.
Highlights
- Loan types: Undergraduate, graduate and MBA loans
- Rate types: Fixed and variable rates for undergraduate loans with 0.50 percent autopay discount
- Loan terms: Seven, 10 or 15 years
- Minimum loan: $1,001
- Application or origination fees: No
- Autopay discount: 0.50 percent when using a SunTrust deposit account
- Other savings opportunities: Principal reduction when you graduate with a degree or consistent on-time payment discount
- Early repayment options: Full payment, interest only, $25 a month or deferred
- Deferment options: In-school deferment and up to six months after graduation or leaving school
- Deferment due to financial hardship: Possibly, it’s up to the loan servicer
- Discharge due to death or permanent disability: Yes
- Co-signer discharge due to death or permanent disability: Yes
- Co-signer release: After 36 consecutive on-time payments if you meet the eligibility, credit and income requirements
- TrustPilot rating: Not rated
- BBB rating: A+
SunTrust Review
For students needing additional funds to complete their college education, SunTrust is a private student loan provider with flexible repayment lengths and a loan limit of $150,000. If you don’t anticipate consolidating your private and federal student loans, this is one of the best student loan providers to work with.
Though other student loan providers offer higher loan limits, the $150,000 offered by SunTrust should be enough to complement any federal student loans and help you afford your college education.
If you plan on taking out both federal and private loans, however, SunTrust can’t consolidate the loans into a single payment plan. This means you’ll have to keep your federal and private loans separate and make separate payments monthly for both loans. College Ave and Citizens Bank both offer loan consolidation.
5. College Ave
College Ave Student Loans is a new alternative online lender that focuses primarily on student loans. It offers new loans for students, and refinances existing federal and private student loans.
Highlights
- Loan types: Undergraduate, graduate and parent loans
- Rate types: Fixed and variable rates for undergraduate loans with 0.25 percent autopay discount
- Loan terms: Five to 15 years
- Minimum loan: $1,000
- Application or origination fees: No
- Autopay discount: 0.25 percent
- Other savings opportunities: Not available
- Early repayment options: Full payment, interest only, $25 a month or deferred
- Deferment options: In-school deferment
- Deferment due to financial hardship: Considered on a case-by-case basis
- Discharge due to death or permanent disability: Yes
- Co-signer discharge due to death or permanent disability: Yes
- Co-signer release: Available under qualifying circumstances
- TrustPilot rating: Excellent
- BBB rating: A+
College Ave Review
If you’re considering taking out private student loans, College Ave might be the lender you’re looking for.
College Ave wants to simplify the student loan process, so you can focus on what matters most — preparing for a bright future. Here’s what you need to know before borrowing from College Ave.
College Ave’s student loans come with competitive interest rates and a variety of repayment terms and options, so you can find the right fit for you.
Before taking out any private student loans, you should exhaust all of your federal student loan options. If you still need money to pay for college, compare student loans from multiple lenders to ensure you’re getting the best rates and terms for your situation.
You can use Credible to request rates from a range of lenders (including College Ave) who offer student loans. It takes less than 3 minutes to fill out the single form needed, and lenders don’t see your personal information unless you choose an option you want to proceed with.
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