Sallie Mae is a widely utilized private student loan lender. To date, they have provided loans to more than 30 million undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Because of the size of Sallie Mae, they have the ability to offer competitive interest rates for both variable and fixed interest loans, as well as valuable benefits and incentives. Recently, Sallie Mae selected Navient as the name for their new loan management, servicing and asset recovery company. Navient has now departed from Sallie Mae and is a publicly traded company. It is expected to service more than 300 billion in student loans and many borrowers who took out Sallie Mae loans may now be under management by Navient.
Rates
Sallie Mae offers annual percentage interest rates between 5.74% and 11.85%, for a fixed rate loan, and between 2.25% and 9.37% for a variable rate loan. As an incentive for prompt and consistent repayment, Sallie Mae also offers a 0.25 % interest rate deduction for those who use an automatic debit payment on their loan.
If eligible for a loan, students can borrow up to the full cost of their college education. Because of this feature, many use Sallie Mae student loans to cover the difference between their full financial need, and federal grants and loans that they have already received.
(Rates valid as of July 12, 2015)
Repayment
While a student is still enrolled in school, Sallie Mae offers flexibility in loan repayment. Students have three modified repayment options that are valid through the six month grace period after graduation.
- Defer Repayment Option: Defer the loan entirely while in school or pay as much as you like.
- Fixed Repayment Option: Pay only $25 while in school to help reduce your total interest accrued
- Interest Repayment Option: Pay interest collected while in school and through grace period.
Sallie Mae Student Loan Consolidation
With Sallie Mae student loans, borrowers also have the option to consolidate their student loans. For those with more than one federal loan, this federal consolidation with take a weighted average of existing federal student loans to help simplify repayment. If you are interested in a lowering your interest rate on the other hand, consider refinancing and consolidating with a private lender.
How does Sallie Mae Compare?
If you are looking to get a private student loan, it is most likely that you have already heard of Sallie Mae. Sallie Mae offers competitive private student loan interest rates as well as consolidation options for graduates. However, as a servicer, reviews are generally below average and focus on the lack of clarity.
There are a number of factors to consider when selecting a student loan servicer. Before taking out a loan, make sure you explore what options and benefits are important to you to make sure you that you can stay ahead on your repayment.
If you are interested in comparing refinancing lenders or private student loan options, visit Credible.