Chase Student Loans as a Base Model for Student Loans Expectations

Gathering funds for an education can be done in many ways. There are a few federal loans available and there are any number of financial aid services for students who qualify. Your school's financial aid office can help you figure out which financial aid, grants, or scholarships you may receive. This may not cover your education on its own, and you may need a private loan but do not know what to expect. Chase student loans can be used as a reference point.

Private student loan providers, including Chase, often offer to help you get federal Stafford loans, for undergraduate students, and PLUS loans, for graduate students. Chase offers a slightly lower rate than the standard federal rate for these loans; monthly rates will remain the same but the overall payment time will be lower. Chase and other private lenders can also help with federal student loan consolidation.

These federal services generally don't pay the entire cost of going to college, so students often have to turn to private lenders to cover additional expenses. The program offered by Chase can be used as a case study, as they are industry-standard. This will give you an idea of what to expect.

Students can borrow up to $40,000 per year with Chase's private student loans; the interest rate will be different for each student based on their credit rating. Chase recommends using a cosigner, which can help lower the interest assigned to the loan, but they do not require a cosigner, they only require that one of the applicants be creditworthy. Payment on these loans is due to begin almost immediately, 45 days after receiving the money, but these payments can be deferred until graduation. Ideally you can pay interest only while studying, if not, you can choose to defer interest and principle, but interest will continue to accumulate.

Graduate and undergraduate students can cover their COA-Aid (the cost of attendance minus financial aid) with a Chase Select loan for expenses enumerated by the college.

The Chase Medical Education Program is a package of federal and private loans for medical students, including PLUS graduate student loans, Stafford medical loans, private medical loans, and medical residence loans.

Lending specialists are available by phone or internet to help you compare loan options, with Chase and with most lenders. Chase offers loan payment rate and cost of living calculators as well as individual borrowers' loan information on their website.

The examples used here are based on Chase student loans for the purpose of providing a baseline industry standard so you know what to expect when you start looking for private student loans. Compare options with multiple lenders to get the best rates and service.