Financial Aid Disbursement: When and How You Will Get It

Financial Aid Disbursement: When and How You Will Get It

Its time to get ready for your academic year. You may have questions about how you receive your financial aid. And maybe youve already heard about aid “disbursements,” but what does that even mean? You were awarded aid for the full academic year, but there are different methods (and rules) schools need to follow when it comes to how and when that money is disbursed.

When Does Financial Aid Come In?

You completed and filed all your financial aid applications. Now youre wondering, how and when do I get the money? As a general rule, most schools begin to disburse (release) loan money no earlier than ten days before school starts. But this will depend on the schools policies and even your academic level. More on that later.

Apply for a Sallie Mae Private Student Loan

  • Variable Rates: 1.13% APR – % APR. Fixed Rates: 3.50% APR – % APR. Lowest rates shown include the auto debit discount. 1
  • Choose from multiple repayment options, including no payments while in school 1
  • No origination fee or prepayment penalty 2
  • Cover up to 100% of your school-certified college expenses like tuition, fees, books, housing, meals, travel, and even a laptop for the entire school year 3
  • The only undergraduate student loan that offers 4 months of Chegg® study help 4

This loan is for undergraduate students at participating degree-granting schools. Continue reading

College Ave offers a solid all-around private loan product with a few unique features

College Ave offers a solid all-around private loan product with a few unique features

Private student loans are best used to pay college costs after you’ve borrowed the maximum you qualify for in both subsidized and unsubsidized federal student loans.

Private student loans come from banks, credit unions and online lenders, and unlike federal student loans for undergraduates, they require a credit check. That means most undergrads will need a co-signer in order to qualify. Private student loans also are more expensive than federal loans-especially now that federal loan rates are at historic lows-and typically don’t offer the flexible repayment options their federal counterparts do.

That’s why there is no five-star lender on our list of private student loans: In the vast majority of cases, the best college financing option is a federal student loan.

  • Best Private Student Loan Options
  • Rhode Island Student Loan Authority
  • Ascent
  • SoFi
  • A.M. Money
  • College Ave
  • Funding U
  • Discover
  • PNC Bank

Fixed APR

Rhode Island Student Loan Authority, known as RISLA, is a nonprofit based in Rhode Island that lends to students across the country. It offers two different loan types for undergraduate students, which each come with their own fixed interest rates. One loan requires immediate repayment, and one lets you defer payments until six months after you leave school. Everyone who qualifies for each of the loan types gets the same rate, which makes it easy to compare RISLA loans with others you’ve qualified for.

For borrowers who struggle to afford their loan after graduating, RISLA is one of the only private lenders to offer an income-based repayment plan, which limits payments to 15% of income for a 25-year period.

Eligibility: Applicants must show a minimum income of $40,000 per year and a minimum credit score of 680. Most undergraduate students will need a co-signer to qualify.

Undergraduate Fixed APR

Ascent offers both co-signed and non-co-signed student loans, which gives borrowers without co-signers more college funding options. Continue reading