Private Alternative Loans

If you are considering borrowing a private educational loan to finance your college education, there are a few things you need to be aware of. As a private loan borrower, it is your responsibility to research which loan will be best for you. Some things to look for are: interest rates, fees, and repayment terms.

The amount of loan that you request and may be approved for by the lender may not be the amount that you are ultimately approved for by the school. Private educational loans must fit within your cost of attendance budget set by the school based on the Department of Education guidelines. If you are unsure of the amount that you are eligible for, please contact our office.

Private alternative loans are credit based loans. This means that the company will run your credit history. If your credit does not pass, you may be required to have a co-signer in order to receive that loan. The majority of the private educational loans also have variable interest rates.  This means that the rates will vary with fluctuations in the market. There are a few companies that do offer fixed rate loans, but the majority require a credit worthy borrower or co-borrower with a minimum income requirement.

Many private educational loans also have fees associated with them. These are processing or origination fees that are charged to you and taken off the top of your loan. For example: if you needed to borrow $1000 and the loan you chose had a 5% origination fee, you would only receive $950 because $50 of that would have gone to pay the fee.

Once you apply, our office will be notified and we will certify your loan. In most cases, this is all done electronically, but you can expect that these types of loans will take several weeks to complete because of the credit underwriting that the companies perform.

The lenders listed on the Iowa College Aid Commission website are lenders who offer Private Loans to students planning to attend college in Iowa. You have the right to select any lender you wish. The order in which these appear in no way constitutes a recommendation or preference on our part. We encourage you to research any lender and be knowledgeable of the terms being offered.

Participating private loan lender list

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