NEWARK, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With the end of summer in sight, college-bound students and their families are making final arrangements for the fall semester, including financing tuition, room and board, and related college expenses. While scholarships and grants are a top source used to pay for college and federal student loans can help foot the bill, many families are still left with a financing gap. Sallie Mae, the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company, offers competitive, flexible, private student loans to help cover remaining expenses.
Available to undergraduate students attending degree-granting institutions, Sallie Mae’s Smart Option Student Loan offers fixed rates ranging from 5.74 to 11.85 percent annual percentage yield (APR). Variable rates for undergraduates start from 4.12 to 10.98 percent APR. Sallie Mae’s private student loans have no origination fees or prepayment penalties.
Sallie Mae private student loan customers can choose to make monthly interest-only or fixed payments while in school or defer payments until after school. Customers can reduce their interest rate by 1.25 percentage points when they enroll in the automatic debit option and choose the in-school interest repayment option instead of the deferred repayment option, or they can reduce their interest rate by .75 percentage points when they enroll in the automatic debit option and choose the fixed repayment option instead of the deferred repayment option.
A freshman customer who makes interest-only payments on a Smart Option Student Loan while in school could save an average of 27 percent on total undergraduate loan costs, compared to our deferred payment option. A freshman customer who makes monthly fixed payments while in school could save an average of 13 percent on total undergraduate loan costs, compared to the deferred payment option. More than half of Sallie Mae customers choose to make payments while in school.
The Sallie Mae Smart Option Student Loan also offers:
- Repayment Flexibility: Students now have 18 months after leaving school to request a Graduated Repayment Period. The Graduated Repayment Period offers greater budget flexibility by allowing customers to make 12 interest-only payments before transitioning into full principal and interest payments.
- Cosigner Release: After they graduate, and once they have made 12 on-time principal and interest payments and meet certain other credit requirements, a customer may apply to have their cosigner released from the loan.
- Sallie Mae’s Study Starter Benefit: Available to all Sallie Mae undergraduate private student loan customers and Sallie Mae Parent Loan customers with a new loan, Study Starter gives students access to study tools and thousands of tutors available 24/7 to help them achieve success in school.
- Free Access to FICO® Scores: Customers have access to their FICO® Score on a quarterly basis, along with information about factors that affect credit scores and why monitoring credit scores is important.
Sallie Mae also offers a private Parent Loan with competitive fixed and variable interest rates, no origination fee, and a choice of repayment options. Fixed rates for academic year 2018-19 range from 5.74 to 12.87 percent APR. Variable rates start from 5.62 to 11.99 percent APR. By comparison, the Federal Direct PLUS Loan for Parents is offered only at a fixed rate of 7.60 percent for academic year 2018-19 and carries an origination fee of 4.264 percent.
“Students and parents are tying up loose ends before entering or returning to college this month, and that may include figuring out how to pay for any remaining costs,” said Kelly Christiano, senior vice president, Sallie Mae. “Our competitively priced and flexible private student loans can help bridge any financing gap affordably and responsibly.”
Sallie Mae recommends a 1-2-3 approach to paying for college: first, maximize money that does not need to be repaid, such as scholarships and grants; second, explore federal student loans; and, third, consider a responsible private student loan.
For more information, or to apply visit SallieMae.com.
Sallie Mae (Nasdaq: SLM) is the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company. Whether college is a long way off or just around the corner, Sallie Mae offers products that promote responsible personal finance, including private education loans, free scholarship search tools, free college financial planning tools, and online retail banking. Learn more at SallieMae.com. Commonly known as Sallie Mae, SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.
