Lenders Offering Private Loans for Part-Time College Students

 lenders offering private loans for part-time college students

Many private lenders, such as Ascent and Citizens Bank, follow in the federal government’s footsteps and require you to be enrolled at least half-time.

The following four lenders, however, allow you to dip below half-time and still qualify for borrowing.

1. College Ave Student Loans

• Fixed and variable interest rates
• Borrow as little as $1,000
• Four in-school repayment options, including deferment
• Repayment term options include 5, 8, 10 and 15 years
• Receive a 0.25% rate deduction for enrolling in autopay
• No application fees
• Prequalify in three minutes
• Release your cosigner after completing half of your repayment

2. Sallie Mae

• Fixed and variable interest rates
• Borrow as little as $1,000
• Three in-school repayment options, including deferment
• Repayment term options span 5 to 15 years
• Receive a 0.25% rate deduction for enrolling in autopay
• No origination or prepayment fees
• Apply in 15 minutes
• Receive free credit-score tracking and academic study support
• Request 12 months of interest-only payments after graduation
• Release your cosigner after industry-best 12 months of prompt payments

Eligibility fine print: You must be seeking a bachelor’s or associate’s degree or a certificate from a participating school.

3. Wells Fargo

• Fixed and variable interest rates
• Borrow as little as $1,000
• Defer payments until six months after finishing school
• Repayment term options include 15 and 20 years
• Receive up to 0.25% rate deduction for enrolling in autopay, plus additional discounts for opening qualified bank accounts
• No application, origination or prepayment fees
• Release your cosigner after 24 consecutive months of prompt payments

Eligibility fine print: You must be seeking a degree, certificate or license at a participating school.

4. Rhode Island Student Loan Authority

• Fixed and variable interest rates
• Borrow as little as $1,500 per year
• Defer payments until six months after finishing school
• Repayment term options include 5, 10 and 15 years
• Receive a 0.25% rate deduction for enrolling in autopay
• No application or origination fees
• Prequalify in 10 minutes or less
• Possible access to federal loan-like features forgiveness and Income-Based Repayment
• Receive multi-year approval with one application
• Release your cosigner after 24 consecutive months of prompt payments

Eligibility fine print: Only Rhode Island residents or students can borrow fixed-rate loans, although any student nationally — of any enrollment type — is eligible to borrow a variable-rate loan.

3 catches of part-time students borrowing for college

As you consider borrowing a private student loan for your part-time enrollment, keep these issues in mind:

1. School certification

Your school must certify your enrollment status with a lender before you can receive a loan. If the school doesn’t allow part-time students — or private loans for part-timers — you would have wasted your time applying for aid in the first place.

To avoid headaches, check in with your campus financial aid office to learn about its enrollment requirements before you borrow. You might be asked to complete a self-certification form, confirming the amount you’re eligible to borrow.

2. Minimum borrowing amount

As a less-than-half-time student, you probably don’t need to borrow as much money for school as your full-time peers. At many schools, the fewer credits you sign up for, the lower your cost of attendance is.

To be eligible for a private loan, however, you must borrow a minimum amount. College Ave, Sallie Mae and Wells Fargo, for example, all set a $1,000 threshold. If you need to borrow less than that, you might be able to avoid borrowing by taking on a part-time job.

3. Triggering repayment

If you drop below half-time enrollment after borrowing private student loans, you could be expected to begin repaying those loans immediately. Contact your lender (preferably before you change your enrollment status) to learn about any consequences.

Similarly, if you drop credits from your course load and fall below half-time, you’ll be expected to enter repayment on your federal loans.

Consider all of your financial aid options

Only a handful of reputable lenders allow part-time students to borrow for college. With fewer options than your half- and full-time peers, ensure borrowing is the  best for you before signing on the dotted line.

Explore all of your financial aid options for part-timers. And, if you haven’t already, apply for gift aid that doesn’t need to be repaid, including grants and scholarships.