Newark-based Sallie Mae, announced The Sallie Mae Parent Loan.
The Sallie Mae Parent Loan offers competitive interest rates, no origination fee, and a choice of repayment options, and it can cover up to 100 percent of the school-certified cost of attendance.
According to “How America Pays for College 2015,” the national study by Sallie Mae and Ipsos, parents cover approximately 40 percent the cost of college with a combination of savings, income and borrowed sources, and nearly one-third of parents borrow to pay some of their child’s college costs.
Specifically, The Sallie Mae Parent Loan offers:
- Expanded eligibility. The Sallie Mae Parent Loan is available not just to parents but to anyone with good credit who wants to help fund a student’s college education, and it can be used for undergraduate or graduate students who are enrolled full-time, half-time, or less than half-time. The Federal PLUS Loan for Parents is available only to parents of dependent undergraduate students who are enrolled at least half-time.
- Variable or fixed interest rates and no origination fee.
- Multiple benefits, including free credit scores and a discount f or use of debit payments from accounts.
- Interest-only loan while student is in school or the option of interest and principal payments.
“There is no single way to pay for college, and for many, it is a shared responsibility,” said Charlie Rocha, executive vice president, Sallie Mae. “Our research shows that nine in 10 parents are planning to help cover the cost of their child’s college education. Our new Parent Loan along with our Smart Option Student Loan give families choices to do so with confidence from a proven market leader.”
The company already offers the Smart Option Student Loan for undergraduate and graduate students, along with products to help families save and plan for college.
Sallie Mae is seeing growing competition in the student loan business, with one spin-off CollegeAve based in Delaware and Silicon Valley start-ups hoping to profit from a move to online technology.
