Office of Financial Aid

Alternative Loans

Many lenders offer private loans to students to cover allowable educational expenses. These loans are often referred to as “private loans” or “alternative loans.” These loans are not part of the federal government loan programs and may be more expensive for the borrower than federal loans. As a cost saving measure students are encouraged to exhaust all other financial options, including taking loans from the federal loan programs, before considering an alternative or private loan. For most alternative loans, a credit check of the applicant and/or the cosigner is required, and repayment sometimes begins immediately.

If you wish to borrow an alternative loan, the OSFA highly encourages you to research multiple lenders and pick the loan that best fits your needs. Interest rates, fees, repayment periods, rebates, etc. can vary by lender and loan program. In order to remain competitive, lending institutions frequently reevaluate and adjust their alternative loan programs.

Students are free to select any lender of their choosing. Finaid.org maintains a thorough list of private lenders. Finaid.org is responsible for the accuracy and updating of all content of this list.