Multi-Year Student Loan Approval | Citizens (2024)

FAQs

How do multi-year student loans work? ›

Your school will ultimately certify the maximum amount that you can borrow each year. Is Multi-Year Approval a line of credit that I can draw on as needed? Multi-Year Approval loans are not lines of credit. Each subsequent request for funds is a new loan at prevailing rates when the request is made.

Multi-Year Advantage

Get the money you need year after year—returning undergraduate students have a 95% approval rate with a cosigner.

If you have loans that have been in repayment for more than 20 or 25 years, those loans may immediately qualify for forgiveness. Borrowers who have reached 20 or 25 years (240 or 300 months) worth of eligible payments for IDR forgiveness will see their loans forgiven as they reach these milestones.

Once you submit your application, you could be approved for a private student loan in as little as a few minutes. But if your application requires further review, it could take up to two weeks before the lender lets you know whether you've been approved (or if there are other conditions you need to meet first).

How Multi-Year Advantage can benefit you. 95% of undergraduate students who've been approved with a cosigner were approved again when they returned with a cosigner the following year. With our Multi-Year Advantage you can: Cover up to 100% of school-certified costs each year you receive a Sallie Mae loan.

If you have good credit, you'll likely get a better APR with College Ave than with Sallie Mae Undergraduate Student Loans, as College Ave has a lower minimum rate. Neither company will charge origination fees or prepayment penalties, but you will pay a 5% late payment fee, up to $25, with both lenders.

The average credit score for approved Sallie Mae borrowers is around 748 for undergraduate student loans. That's pretty high – but don't panic if your credit score is much lower than that. You'll need a minimum credit score (or have a cosigner with a minimum credit score) that is somewhere in the mid-600s.

FICO® Scores, the credit scores created by Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), are the most widely used credit scores in lending decisions. Lenders can request FICO® Scores from all three major credit reporting agencies.

Missing payments can rack up penalties and fees, which can make your debt more expensive. Your credit score will take a hit. If you default on federal student loans, the government could garnish your wages, tax refund and even Social Security benefits.

Are student loans automatically forgiven after 20 years? ›

All borrowers on SAVE receive forgiveness after 20 or 25 years, depending on whether they have loans for graduate school. The benefit is based upon the original principal balance of all Federal loans borrowed to attend school, not what a borrower currently owes or the amount of an individual loan.

Direct Stafford Loans are student loans that must be repaid and are available to both undergraduate and graduate students. First-year undergraduates are eligible for loans up to $5,500. Amounts increase for subsequent years of study, with higher amounts for graduate students.

When you (and your cosigner, if you have one) pass the credit review, you'll be notified that you're approved. It can take as few as 15 minutes to find out whether you've met their credit requirements. If the lender needs more information, the approval can take a few business days.

When you're in need of an emergency student loan, you need money fast. If you find yourself in a situation where you do not have enough money to pay for college related expenses, the first thing you should do is contact your school's financial aid office. They are there to assist you.

Grace Periods.

When you finish your undergraduate program, your federal student loans will enter into a grace period (typically 6-9 months long). During this time, no payments are required. After the grace period ends during a gap year, you will either want to continue postponing payments or select a repayment plan.

When loans are consolidated, any unpaid interest capitalizes. This means your unpaid interest is added to your principal balance. The combined amount will be your new loan's principal balance. You'll then pay interest on the new, higher principal balance.

Any payment amount above the Total Amount Due will be split proportionally among your loans based on outstanding balances. For example, if Jane has Loan A with an outstanding balance of $50K and Loan B with an outstanding balance of $10K, we would direct $50 to Loan A and $10 to Loan B.

The short answer to this question: it's definitely better taking out student loans one year at a time. You should only take what you need for that one year and no more.