Student Alternative Loans
When is a student alternative loan appropriate?
When you have exhausted your maximum borrowing eligibility through the Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, as well as considered the HES Payment Plan, and the Parent PLUS Loan, you may want to consider a student alternative loan (non-federal loan program). The student is the borrower for the alternative loans; however, in almost all cases, a credit-worthy cosigner is required. Having a credit-worthy cosigner will also likely reduce the cost of the loan (interest rate, up front and back-end fees, etc.) Please be aware that the cosigner is fully responsible for repaying the loan should the borrower stop making payments. There are some alternative loan products that offer a cosigner release option after a specified number of on-time payments are made and the borrower is credit-worthy.
The Financial Aid Office strongly encourages you to borrow Federal student loans first and then consider the HES Payment Plan and/or the PLUS Loan before applying for a student alternative loan.
How do I select a student alternative loan?
LVC has partnered with ELM Select to provide you with a student alternative loan comparison tool. The loan products included on this site are recommended by LVC; however, please be aware that you are free to conduct your own research and comparison of alternative loan products and select any lender of your choice.
Below is a list of lenders included on LVC's customized ELM Select website and information each lender is required to share with potential student borrowers. To compare loans among these lenders, please visit LVC's ELM Select webpage.
Listed below are the loan disclosures for each lender:
Citizens Bank -fixed and variable interest rate loans available
cuScholar - variable rate
Discover - fixed and variable interest rate loans available
Member's First Federal Credit Union
NJ Class - NJ residents only
PNC Bank - fixed and variable interest rate loans available
Sallie Mae - fixed and variable interest rate loans available
SunTrust - fixed and variable interest rate loans available
Wells Fargo - fixed and variable interest rate loans available
Chase Select borrowers - Effective July 1, 2012, Chase Select Private Student Loans will be available exclusively to Chase customers. Chase will require that either the student borrower or the cosigner be a Chase customer with a qualifying account or loan relationship. Qualifying Chase accounts and relationships include:
- Savings, checking or other deposit accounts
- Loan account (including an existing Chase student loan)
- Credit card account
You may apply online at www.ChaseStudentLoans.com (or at a nearby Chase branch, if applicable).
CitiAssist - On December 31, 2010, Citibank, N.A. sold its student loan business to Discover Bank. During a transition period, CitiAssist® Loans remained available under the Citi brand. However, as of December 29, 2012, Citibank, N.A. is no longer accepting CitiAssist Loan applications. If you borrowed a CitiAssist Loan in 2011 or 2012, it has been or will be purchased and serviced by Discover.
If your CitiAssist Loan is fully-disbursed and has been purchased and serviced by Discover, please call 1-877-728-3030, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week or visit DiscoverStudentLoans.com
for more information.
New students - you should NOT apply for a student alternative loan prior to April 1, 2013 for the 2013-2014 academic year. Filing prior to this date may result in your credit approval expiring.
Returning students - you should NOT apply for a student alternative loan prior to receiving your award package in early July.
If you need to borrow an alternative loan and you will be enrolled for < 6 credits during a semester, you may borrow through Sallie Mae or Wells Fargo. The other lenders LVC recommends require you to be enrolled for a minimum of 6 credits per semester.
During the application process, the lender will request you complete the
Applicant Self-Certification Form. It is a standard form you may download from this site or wait until the lender provides the form to you. There is also a hard copy available in the Financial Aid Office. In addition to demographic information, there are 2 pieces of information needed to complete the form. Both may be found in your financial award package:
- Student Cost of Attendance - found at the top of page 2 which is titled Award Descriptions.
- Estimated Financial Assistance - found on page 1 below the types and amounts of aid.
Please return this form to your lender. LVC does not collect or process this form. You may contact the office if you need assistance completing it.