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More Details About Sallie Mae

Smart Option Student Loan® for Undergraduate Students

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Key Benefits:

  • Get competitive variable interest rates from 3.25% APR to 10.65% APR. Lowest rates shown include the auto debit discount.
     
  • Choose from multiple repayment options, including no payments while in school
     
  • Pay no origination fee
     
  • Pay your loan off early with no penalty
     
  • Borrow up to 100% of the school-certified expenses

 

Repayment Options:
Pay now or later—defer your payments until after school or choose an in-school repayment option that fits your needs.[1]

  • Pay monthly interest
  • Pay $25 per month[4]
  • Defer payments

Loan Fees: No origination fee and no prepayment penalty.

Repayment Term: 5 to 15 years[4] of principal and interest payments. Repayment term will vary based on loan amount, repayment option, and year in school.

Special Features/Benefits

  • Auto-Debit Savings — 0.25 percentage point interest rate reduction for automatic debit enrollment.[5]
  • Access to quarterly FICO® Credit Scores for both borrowers and cosigners[6]
  • Graduated Repayment Period[7]: Request to make 12 monthly interest-only payments after you finish school.
  • Cover an existing balance for an enrollmentt period within the past 365 days [8]
  • Death and disability loan forgiveness.[9]

Loan Limit: Borrow up to 100% of the school-certified expenses[3]

Cosigner Requirement: If a parent or other creditworthy individual cosigns the loan with you, it may give you a better chance of approval.

Cosigner Release: You may apply to release your cosigner from the loan after you graduate, make 12 on-time principal and interest payments and meet certain credit requirements.[10]

Eligibility: Available to students enrolled enrolled full-time, half-time, and less than half-time.

Applying is fast and easy.

Legal Disclaimers

Explore federal loans and compare to ensure you understand the terms and features. Sallie Mae Smart Option Student Loans that have variable rates can go up after consummation. Federal student loans are required by law to provide a range of flexible repayment options, including, but not limited to, income-based repayment and income-contingent repayment plans, and loan forgiveness and deferment benefits, which other student loans are not required to provide. Federal loans generally have origination fees, but are available to students regardless of income.

This information is for undergraduate students attending participating degree-granting schools. Borrowers must be U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents if the school is located outside of the United States. Non-U.S. citizen borrowers who reside in the U.S. are eligible with a creditworthy cosigner (who must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident) and are required to provide an unexpired government-issued photo ID to verify identity. Applications are subject to a requested minimum loan amount of $1,000. Current credit and other eligibility criteria apply.

[1]Interest is charged starting at disbursement, during school and the separation/grace period, and until the loan is paid in full. With the Fixed and Deferred Repayment Options, the interest rate is higher than with the Interest Repayment Option and Unpaid Interest is added to the loan’s Current Principal at the end of the grace/separation period. Payments may be required during the grace/separation period depending on the repayment option selected. Variable rates may increase over the life of the loan. Advertised variable rates reflect the starting range of rates and may vary outside of that range over the life of the loan. Advertised APRs assume a $10,000 loan to a freshman with no other Sallie Mae loans.

[2]Although we do not charge you a penalty or fee if you prepay your loan, any prepayment will be applied as provided in your promissory note: first to Unpaid Fees and costs, then to Unpaid Interest, and then to Current Principal.

[3]Loan amount cannot exceed the cost of attendance less financial aid received as certified by the school. [Sallie Mae/Commerce Bank] reserves the right to approve a lower loan amount than the school-certified amount.

[4]This repayment example is based on a typical Smart Option Student Loan made to a freshman borrower who chooses a fixed rate and the Fixed Repayment Option for a $10,000 loan, with two disbursements, and a 8.44% fixed APR. It works out to 51 payments of $25.00, 119 payments of $156.04 and one payment of $118.97, for a Total Loan Cost of $19,962.73.

[5]Borrower or cosigner must enroll in auto debit through Sallie Mae to receive a 0.25 percentage point interest rate reduction benefit. This benefit applies only during active repayment for as long as the Current Amount Due or Designated Amount is successfully withdrawn from the authorized bank account each month and may be suspended during periods of forbearance or deferment, if available for the loan.

[6] Borrowers and cosigners who have an available FICO® Score and a Sallie Mae loan with a current balance greater than $0, may receive their score quarterly after the first disbursement of their loan. The FICO® Score provided to you is the FICO® Score 8 based on TransUnion data, and is the same score that Sallie Mae uses, along with other information, to manage your account. FICO® Scores and associated educational content are provided solely for your own non-commercial personal review, use and benefit. This benefit may change or end in the future. FICO® is a registered trademark of the Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and other countries.

[7] Available for loans used to pay qualified higher education expenses at a degree-granting institution. Graduated Repayment Period (GRP) allows interest-only payments for 12 billing periods after principal and interest repayment begins. At the time of GRP request, the loan must be current (not past due). Customers may request GRP during the six billing periods before and the 12 billing periods immediately after the loan first enters principal and interest repayment. GRP does not extend the loan term. GRP increases the Total Loan Cost and monthly payments after the GRP will be higher than they would have been without it.

[8] No more than 365 days can pass from the loan period end date to the first disbursement of the loan. At the time of request, the student must be enrolled, intending to enroll, or have graduated. The student must have been enrolled during the prior enrollment period for which the loan is requested and must not have withdrawn with no intention of re-enrolling, as verified by the school.

[9] If a student dies or become permanently and totally disabled, Sallie Mae will waive all remaining payments on the loan.

[10 ]Only the borrower may apply for cosigner release. Borrowers who meet the age of majority in their state may apply for cosigner release by providing proof of graduation (or completion of certification program), income, and U.S. citizenship or permanent residency (if your status has changed since you applied). In the last 12 months, the borrower must be current on all Sallie Mae serviced loans (including no hardship forbearances or modified repayment programs) and have paid ahead or made 12 on-time principal and interest payments on each loan requested for release. When the cosigner release application is processed, the borrower must demonstrate the ability to assume full responsibility of the loan(s) individually, and pass a credit review that demonstrates a satisfactory credit history including but not limited to no: open bankruptcy, open foreclosure, student loan(s) in default or 90 day delinquencies in the last 24 months. Requirements are subject to change.

SALLIE MAE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE.

Information valid as of 8/26/2019.