Parent Loans

Federal Parent Plus Loan

8.5% fixed Interest Rate, capped at 9%.

3% origination fee deducted from the principal loan amount at the time of disbursement.

Repayment begins within 30 days of final disbursement.

Lenders may offer in-school forbearance (check with your individual lender).

As a dependent undergraduate student, your parents can borrow a loan to help pay for the cost of your education.   The loan will be in the parent's name and will be based on credit history.

To apply for a Federal Parent Plus Loan, you will need to complete a Federal PLUS Master Promissory Note (PMPN) with a lender of your choice.  This note will be active for 10 years.  Any subsequent PLUS Loans you apply for will refer to that PMPN.  

In addition, you will need to complete the St. Ambrose University Federal PLUS Loan Request Form.  This form will need to be completed every time you request Federal PLUS Loan funds will the student is attending St. Ambrose University.

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.

The lenders included on this list are lenders who have offered Private Loans to St. Ambrose students in the past.  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.

US Bank No Fee Education Loan

• Credit based
• Co-signer encouraged, may receive a lower interest rate
• Variable interest rate, based on Prime Plus
• May be enrolled in full-time, half-time or less than half time; non-degree borrowers accepted
• $1,000 minimum loan amount
• Defer payments while in school
• Co-signer release option after you make your first 36 on time payments and have acceptable FICO score and debt-to-income ratio or borrowers who make 48 on time payments with a qualifying debt-to-income ratio (no minimum FICO requirement)
• .50% interest rate reduction for auto-pay

Wells Fargo Collegiate Loan

• Credit based
• Co-signer encouraged
• Variable interest rate; Prime plus %
• May be enrolled in full-time, half-time or less than half time
• No origination, disbursement or repayment fees
• $1,000 minimum loan amount
• Defer payments while in school
• Co-signer release option after you make your first 24 consecutive monthly payments
• .25% interest rate reduction for auto-pay
• .50% interest rate reduction just for Graduating (effective July 1, 2008)
  

CitiBank - CitiAssist Loan

• Credit based
• Co-signer encouraged
• Variable interest rate
• May be enrolled in full-time, half-time or less than half time; non-degree borrowers accepted
• Origination fees of 0% - 6%
• No minimum loan amount
• Defer payments while in school
• .25% interest reduction for auto-pay 

Sallie Mae Signature Loan

• Credit based
• Co-signer encouraged
• Variable interest rate; LIBOR
• No origination fees
• No minimum loan amount
• Defer payments while in school
• .50 percentage point interest rate reduction with auto debit payments
• Co-signer release option after the first 24 consecutive on-time payments of principal and interest
• Combined billing for borrowers with multiple Sallie Mae loans

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.