<p>Hey, I received a subsidized stafford loan, and I must pick a lender. However, I am having trouble choosing one. I narrowed it down to 4:
Academic Finance Corporation (amsweb.com);
Chase Education Finance (chasestudentloans.com/custom/sunysb);
Citibank (studentloan.com/schools/suny/stonybrook); and
Wachovia Education Finance (wachovia.com/education)</p>
<p>What do you recommend please? Any feedback is greatly appreciated..
Thank you!</p>
<p>What about north star. I did mine with them last year.</p>
<p>It is good that you are researching lenders before making a choice. </p>
<p>Most lenders out there offer similiar if not the same rates mostly because the Federal Guidelines limit things like: interest rates, postponement eligibility, repayment terms, loan limits.... </p>
<p>I am sure that I am being redundant, but be sure to consider these items:
-Is the lender a "for profit" or "non profit lender"?
-What is the repayment incentive?
-When does the repayment incentive begin?
-What would prevent me from receiving your repayment incentive?
-What is your definition of late payment?
-What happens if I miss a payment?
-Can I regain eligibility for the repayment incentive?
-If I request a deferment or forbearance, will I lose my repayment incentive?</p>
<p>edubbs, i have no idea what you are talking about</p>
<p>With the federal loans I think you will generally be getting the same rate from them all. Go with the one you like and is the Easiest to deal with. Come repayment time you want a bank you can talk to. Sallie Mae is a damn fortress, so I am glad that wasnt a choice, but seriously pick the one you like dealing with. The rates will be about the same for the federal loans, just make sure to lock them in at somepoint if they go up.</p>
<p>Tim</p>
<p><a href="http://www.college-investor.com%5B/url%5D">www.college-investor.com</a>
Managing Director.</p>
<p>Sorry to confuse you further.</p>
<p>I agree with College Investor. You are going to get the same interest rates, etc - from every lender you work with, so what I was encouraging was just comparing items of repayment incentives (backend benefits) and the type of service that they offer.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>We went with our local bank in our small town, mainly so we could walk in and talk to someone face-to-face if we needed to, but the bank sold the servicing of the loan to some group somewhere who specializes in student loans. Do all the lenders do that?</p>
<p>The servicing of student loans is different than other bank loans, so that is why you'll find that they sell the loans.</p>
<p>That is commonly an overlooked aspect for borrowers when they take out money - it is important to find out if they have a history of selling their loans.</p>
<p>We didn't realize that you had to select a lender for a Stafford loan. How do you know what your options are? Is there a website that compares them? Does it matter what school you are going to / where you live or can you select any organization offering the loans?</p>
<p>I started researching this yesterday when we got the paperwork back and they said we had to pick a lender. Key Bank offers a one-time 10percent reduction of your loan at somepoint in the future. That sounds awfully good to me...</p>
<p>Info would be appreciated!</p>
<p>First I would talk to your school's financial officer - more than likely they have a "lender list" that would provide lenders that your school works closely with and have easy processing (you don't want it to hold up your loan payments". </p>
<p>Then you have to consider your options. </p>
<p>It is good that you are thinking about repayment incentives - that is ultimately the biggest difference between lenders, becauase everything else is mandated by the federal guidelines. </p>
<p>Questions to consider - how many of the borrowers are currently receiving the incentive (qualification rate)? how can you lose it? and is there ways of getting it back once you do lose it? </p>
<p>Just some things to consider! Good luck!</p>
<p>There's a new site to help students compare loan offerings - it's called <a href="http://www.simpletuition.com%5B/url%5D">www.simpletuition.com</a>. You might want to check it out. Also, MyRichUncle has also recently launched a federal loan that is cheaper than other providers - you might want to consider them.</p>
<p>SimpleTuition is a good idea - but it doesn't take all lenders into consideration - it is fairly biased towards their contributors. And MyRichUncle, though offering what seems to be competitive pricing, isn't supported by many schools and have a lot of fine print that should be considered.</p>
<p>Yeah, stay the heck away from myrichuncle unless you haven't a choice. </p>
<p>I posted something about them a long while back. They are not really worth it, in the long run.</p>