Figuring out how to fund your education is a bit like solving a puzzle. For many students, it comes down to making multiple pieces—such as family savings, federal grants, scholarships, and loans—work together. Once you’ve decided that private student loans would be a good contributor to your individual mix, you’ve got to identify the right loan for you. To do this, it’s worth taking the time to compare various loans, and to look beneath the surface, since the lowest advertised interest rates tend to be available to only the most creditworthy applicants. Here are some things to consider when researching private student loans.
Differences in interest rates, fees, and terms can translate into meaningful differences in the debt you graduate with, your monthly payments, and the total amount you end up paying in interest. So it’s important to spend time doing a little investigating!
When you’re researching private student loan options, you’ll want to zero in on a few different things:
Most loans come with money-saving benefits such as an interest rate reduction for automatic payments. Discover® Student Loans even offers cash rewards for good grades! Lenders may also have programs to help you out if you ever have trouble making your monthly payments. Carefully read the terms and conditions to ensure that you will qualify for the advertised benefits and make sure to retain them throughout the life of the loan.
Choose a lender with experienced and well-trained customer service representatives that will have answers to your questions no matter where you are in the student loan process. Lenders offer a variety of ways to contact them and different hours of operation during which you can talk to a live person, so look for a lender you can reach conveniently. You can investigate customer service ratings and reviews to help you compare.
Choosing the right lender is an important decision, and one not to be taken lightly. Discover Student Loans offers variable and fixed rate options, cash rewards for good grades, and interest rate reductions for automatic payments—and zero fees (really!).
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