Sallie Mae Student Loans Review

Reviews for Sallie Mae student loans have some negative reviews which a lot of involves customer service, some customers say that when they sign up to get the loan payments automatically drafted from their bank account. Sallie Mae takes the payment earlier than they were supposed to. It also seems to be difficult to get in touch with the company to change it.

Rating the features of Sallie Mae

There are several options taken into consideration across all the 5 categories available from various companies and have been rated on the base of three criteria -Average, Below Average, and Above Average.

Number	Category	Score	Criteria
1	Faster Repayment	Average	Provision of multiple options for repayment and making payments easy
2	Discloses requirement and the limited cost	Below Average	Limitation of fees and interest rate making underwriting criteria transparent and allowing the borrowers to get a personalized rate and an estimation before they apply
3	Serves a big range of borrowers	Above Average	Serving customers across different locations and under different financial situations
4	Offers payment flexibility	Average	Provision of a period longer than 12 months of forbearance, for the military deferment or any other flexible repayment options where it can help the borrowers in their hardships
5	Supports customers	Average	Assignment of advisor to borrowers and the provision of multiple options to get in touch with the customer service. Provision of a full range of APR range fees and forbearance policies on websites

Pros and cons of Sallie Mae student loan

Being a large student loan lender, Sallie Mae has several benefits and disadvantages. The pros and cons of its student loans are given here.

Pros of Sallie Mae

The biggest advantage of getting a Sallie Mae loan compared to other student loan companies is that this company is willing to work with a wider range of borrowers. Sallie Mae Loans are also offered to international students who are studying in the U.S.
The application process and approval are very efficient and it can all be done online.
They have a lot of flexibility regarding the repayment options.
If you are a student with Sallie Mae MBA Loan, you can request deferment during eligible internships. They mostly provide products that offer different options for the grace period.

Comparing the interest rates and fees of Sallie Mae with other private student loan lenders, you get a rate that depends on the factors of all your credit history or your cosigner's credit history, whichever applies, and the financial situation. To know further information get in touch with them.

No application or origination fee
No personalized rate before applying
No prepayment penalty
There are late fees for the repayment

Cons of Sallie Mae

It is common for all the financial companies, particularly with the student loan companies, to get customer complaints and issues. Sallie Mae does not let potential borrowers find out what the personalized interest rate would be, without doing an inquiry on the credit score which consequently affects the score negatively.

They also have high-interest rates in comparison to some other borrowers.
Complaints and reviews suggest that customer service does not help much in solving their issues and complaints.
Loan holders also find the interest rate with the company and loan products high.
Sallie Mae's interest rate makes it nearly difficult to pay down with the regular payments.

Apart from the mentioned loans, Sallie Mae does not offer personal Loans. Sallie Mae Personal Loans are separately taken care of by one of the subsidiaries of SLM Corporation named Sallie Mae Bank.

Sallie Mae Money Market account may also be of interest to those who want a savings account with a higher interest than what's traditionally offered. Check it out to learn more and start saving your money.

Get in touch with Sallie Mae Customer Service for more help and information regarding their loans.

How to qualify for a Sallie Mae student loan

Student's pursuing a bachelor, associates degree or certification at a degree-granting school can apply for a Sallie Mae loan. Minors (usually below 18 but may differ from states to states) are required to sign up with an eligible U.S co-signer. The minimum credit score required for the loan is not disclosed by the company. The majority of borrowers who have registered for the loans have cosigners.

The loans are offered to the other nationalities as well as long as they or their cosigner is a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident aliens with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) documentation.

The cosigner can be released after a period of 12 monthly payments if the cosigner is anyone but the parents of the borrower
The student loan is also provided to part-time students
The school should be in partnership with Sallie Mae to get the loan or use the amount.

Smart options for undergraduate students

The smart student loan option for undergraduates is the primary loan which is offered by Sallie Mae. Their benefits are mentioned here.

The undergraduate student loan can be used for the Bachelor and Associate degrees and the Certificate programs offered from a degree-granting institution
You can get a 100% coverage for all school-certified student expenses
You have no prepayment penalty or origination fee
When you list yourself to make monthly payments through auto-debit, you can qualify to get the interest rate to be reduced by 0.25% point
They offer competitive interest rates, both fixed and variable.
The repayment option has a deferred fixed repayment option and the interest repayment option too
The cosigner can be released after making 12 months of on-time payments
You are likely to get the credit Sallie Mae payment loan
The decision of the loan application is usually received after 15 minutes from the submission
Available to U.S citizens and U.S permanent residents, including those attending participating in foreign schools.
Non-U.S citizen students (including DACA students) who reside in and attend a school in the U.S are eligible to apply with a creditworthy cosigner (who must be a U.S citizen or a U.S permanent resident) and are required to provide an unexpired government-issued photo ID to verify identity.

Sallie Mae loans for parents

Sallie Mae offers Parent Loans for undergraduate, graduate, and certification education. The loan amount covers 100% of the cost incurred during the cost of attendance. It has the following factors.

No origination fee
No prepayment penalty
If enrolled in an auto-debit program, you will be getting a 0.25% point reduction in the interest rate
They offer competitive interest rates, both fixed and variable.
The loan repayment option gives the borrowers an option to pay interest only when they are in the school for 48 months
The borrowers can also pay off their loans sooner by making both the principal and interest repayment when they are in school

Sallie Mae loans for graduate students

Sallie Mae also provides private student loans for those who plan to seek a Master's or Doctoral degree program. These loans can give total coverage for all the expenses related to school education. It also has no maximum amount fixed for the years taken for graduate school.

6 month grace period is provided to the borrower
48 months of deferment is given at the time of internship or fellowship
Eligible borrowers might get 12 interest-only monthly payments after the grace period
The repayment period for the borrower is allowed up to 15 years
There is no origination fee and prepayment penalties
Available to U.S citizens and U.S permanent residents, including those attending participating in foreign schools.
Non-U.S citizen students (including DACA students) who reside in and attend a school in the U.S are eligible to apply with a creditworthy cosigner (who must be a U.S citizen or a U.S permanent resident) and are required to provide an unexpired government-issued photo ID to verify identity.
They offer competitive interest rates, both fixed and variable.

Sallie Mae loans for MBA students

Sallie Mae also provides MBA loans which can be used to cover up the cost of the business school as borrowers pursue their Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree can be done.

6 month grace period is given to the borrower
No limit on the maximum loan for all years in the business school
48 months of deferment can be provided during an internship
15 years for repayment
International students may also be eligible if they are attending certain schools in the U.S.
Available to U.S citizens and U.S permanent residents, including those attending participating in foreign schools.
Non-U.S citizen students (including DACA students) who reside in and attend a school in the U.S are eligible to apply with a creditworthy cosigner (who must be a U.S citizen or a U.S permanent resident) and are required to provide an unexpired government-issued photo ID to verify identity.
They offer competitive rates of interest, both fixed and variable.

Other loans offered

Apart from the above loans, Sallie Mae also offers various other student loans as mentioned below.

Career Training Student Loan
K-12 Loan
Medical Student Loan
Medical Residency Loan
Dental School Loan
Dental Residency Loan
Health Professions Graduate Loan
Law School Loan
Bar School Loan

Repayment options

In-school

Immediate repayment

Making the full payments as soon as the loan is disbursed when you are in school

Deferred payments

You don't make any payments while you are in school or your grace period

Fixed Repayment

You are required to pay $25 for every month when you are in school and the grace period. The interest rate on it will be around 0.5% lower than the deferred repayment option.

Interest-only repayment

You pay the interest every month when you are in school and during their grace period. The rate of interest will be 1% point lower than the deferred repayment option.

Post-school

In-school deferment

You can request a deferred payment when you are returning to the school or going towards graduate school for 48 months.

Military deferment

The borrower needs to contact the military customer service representative team to get more information. The interest rate is capped at 6% during the eligibility period of military service.

Internship or fellowship deferment

You can get a deferment in increments of 12 months, up to 60 months maximum for Smart Option Student Loan, and up to 48 months for any other student loans.

Postgrad interest

The borrower may request to make the 12 monthly interest-only payments after finishing the school with a graduated repayment period option.

Forbearance

The borrower may be eligible for 3 months of forbearance at a time, up to 12 months in total during the life of the loan. The borrower must pay $50 per loan with a maximum of $150 per account to get a forbearance.

Looking for alternatives to Sallie Mae? Have a look at private student loans

Requirements and other details

This detail of Sallie Mae consists of all the information on the loans from the interest rate, requirement, repayment options, customer service, and extra benefits given to the customer.

Requirements

Must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident or a non-U.S. citizen but with a creditworthy cosigner who needs to be a U.S. Citizen or a legal resident
Accessible to all the borrowers in all 50 states
Students can be full-time, half-time, or less than half time
No details on the Debt to Income Ratio
No details on the qualifying for bankruptcy
No information on the minimum credit score, minimum income, and the typical income for borrowers.

Other details

Online tutoring - Borrowers with a smart option student loan for undergraduates or a parent loan can get access to Study Starter, which offers you up to 120 minutes of live online tutoring or problem-solving steps to them.

Credit score tracking - You get free quarterly FICO credit scores.

Fund Disbursement - The funds are generally disbursed directly to the school.

Extra payment towards principal loan - While making extra payments of a loan, you are under a commitment not to pay down your principal balance first. Interest accrues on your loans daily so the total amount you will pay during the repayment can vary based on when to pay the principal.

Income-driven repayment - Unlike the IDR option in federal student loans, there is no offer for income-based payment for private loans. So, no, they do not provide the Income-Driven Prepayment.

Customer Service

There is an in-house customer service team to help you with the loan
You can process and escalate queries to the concerned team to get help
Borrowers are not assigned to a particular banker or representative
The average time for application approval is under 15 minutes.

Discharge, Forgiveness, and Refinancing

Sadly, private lenders do not forgive the balance of the loan and they try to collect on their due balance regardless of what happens. However, there are certain exceptions to this case.

Sallie Mae is one of the few private lenders who will forgive the remaining loan balance in certain cases like death and disability, providing relief that is needed for the borrower's family.

They do not offer the option to refinance loans like other banks, credit unions, and online lenders provide. You can go for refinancing from lenders like Citizens Bank, Sofi, and Earnest where they provide refinancing for both the federal and private student loans.

Cosigner release

Where some lenders do not offer this cosigner release at all, some lenders require years of on-time payments before even considering applying to take your cosigner off the loan.

Sallie Mae asks just 12 months of on-time payments which makes it very easy to get your cosigner off the loan as long as you meet the requirements.

Eliminating your cosigner from the loan of yours can help improve the relationship with the person where it can prevent any sort of tension over the money.

The very least and small favor that you can do for him in a good way is to show gratitude to your cosigner for having your back on the loan at all times.

If you have existing loans and are looking to refinance them, then turn to the Best Companies to Refinance Your Student Loans to find the right fit for your needs.