Private Loans
Private education loans are designed to provide you with additional assistance for educational costs. Private lenders are available to offer these types of services. When considering private student loans, it is extremely important from a personal finance standpoint that you have first exhausted all other financing options such as grants, scholarships, and all types of federal student loan options.
The following table shows that a federal student loan is a better option than a private student loan.
Federal Student Loans vs. Private Loans
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Federal Student Loans |
Private Student Loans |
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You will not have to start repaying your federal student loans until you graduate, leave school, or change your enrollment status to less than half time |
Many private student loans require payments while you are still in school. |
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The interest rate is fixed and is often lower than private loans - and much lower than some credit card interest rates. View the current interest rates on federal student loans. |
Private student loans can have variable interest rtaes rates greater than 18 percent. |
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Undergraduate students with financial need will likely qualify for a subsidized loan where the government pays the interest while you are in school on at least a half-time basis. |
Private student loans are not subsidized. |
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You don't need to pass a credit check to get a federal student loan (except for PLUS Loans). Federal student loans help you establish a good credit record. |
Private student loans may require an established credit record. The cost of a private student loan depends on your credit score, which you may not yet have as a student. |
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You don't need a co-signer to get a federal |
You may need a co-signer to get |
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Free help is available at 1-800-4-FED-AID. |
You need to find out if there is free help. |
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Some interest is tax deductible. |
Interest may not be tax deductible. |
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Loans can be consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan. Learn about your consolidation options. |
Private student loans cannot be consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan. |
Source: The table can be found on Federal Versus Private Loans from the website of the U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid.
Effective February 14, 2010, the Federal Reserve Board approved final rules on Regulation Z* (Truth in Lending Act) that revises the disclosure requirements for private education loans. Private education loans will not include some institutional loans such as tuition payment plans, most short-term institutional loans, or the Emergency Payment option.
Under the new laws, a lender offering private loans for postsecondary educational expenses must first provide a disclosure about loan terms and features at the time of application and must disclose information about federal student loan programs that may offer less costly alternatives. If the initial application reaches an approval status, a second loan disclosure statement must be provided to the student at that time. If a student accepts the loan terms provided in the second disclosure statement, a third final disclosure must be provided when the loan is consummated.
A lender must also provide the student with a 3 day rescission or “Right-to-Cancel” period after the final loan disclosure form is sent to the student. The Right-to-Cancel period means that once UNTD has certified your loan and all disclosures are sent, there is a mandatory 3 business day waiting period before the lender may disburse loan funds to the school. Note: If a lender only offers a mailed Final Disclosure (not online), then they must wait 6 days to disburse the loan to the school (3 days for mail time and an additional 3 day rescission or “right-to-cancel” period).
An additional piece of the new private loan regulations requires an applicant to complete a Self-Certification form and return it to the lender before they may disburse the loan to the school. The Self-Certification form may be found on the lender’s website. Cost of Attendance information from the University of North Texas at Dallas may be needed for the Self-Certification.
* (PDF files require Adobe Acrobat Reader to be viewed. You can download Acrobat Reader from http://get.adobe.com/reader.)
Important Private Loan Information
All Alternative or private loan applications should be initiated by the borrower via the respective lender's website.
The Process
- Apply online through the lender's website (you will receive the Application Disclosure Statement and complete the Self-Certification form). If your lender requests additional information, submit and send any additional information to your lender and not UNTD.
- Once your credit is approved and your private loan promissory note has been received by your lender, your lender will then send UNTD an electronic certification request. UNTD will not be sent any information until both of these items are completed by your lender.
- UNTD will award your private loan and submit the completed loan certification to your lender for funding. Monitor myUNTDallas for award information.
- Once your private loan certification has been completed, you will be notified by UNTD to complete Private Loan Counseling. Private loan borrowers at UNTD are required to complete Private Loan Counseling annually. You may complete your Private Loan Counseling by following the steps here. You must complete the counseling before UNTD can release any of your private loan funding.
- Once your lender receives UNTD's loan certification, you will be provided an Approval Disclosure Statement by the lender.
- Once you accept the Disclosure terms with the lender, you will receive a Final Disclosure Statement.
- The lender will send the private loan funds to UNTD once the Right-to-Cancel waiting period has ended.
- Private loan funds will be released to your student account only if all loan eligibility requirements are met at the time of disbursement (10 days before the first day of classes for that payment period), including completion of your Private Loan Counseling.
Important Tips
Below are important points for completing the application and faster processing time.
- Use UNTD's loan periods (one application per loan period)
- Fall/spring term: August-May
- Fall-only term: August-December
- Spring term: January-May
- Summer term: May-August
- Use E-sign if available. If you need to print, sign and submit/mail any private loan documents, be sure to send it to your lender and not UNTD.
- The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will allow you to apply for lower interest rate William D. Ford Federal Direct Stafford Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans. Student Financial Aid and Scholarships (SFAS) encourages you to complete and apply for Direct loans first. If you will not be completing a FAFSA and do not wish to apply for Direct loans, please notify our office.
- If currently awarded aid to Cost of Attendance through the FAFSA, contact the SFAS office at (972) 780-3662.
- Keep your personal contact information (address and phone numbers) updated with the Registrar, so SFAS can easily contact you if needed.
- SFAS encourages you to research several lenders before applying in order to find the best loan for your circumstances as rates, fees, and repayment arrangements vary.
-Private loan borrowers at UNTD are required to complete Private Loan Counseling annually. This requirement is a step in UNTD's Default Aversion Plan; our goal is to ensure that each borrower understands how to manage their loan debt and the commitment that comes with the acceptance of a private student loan. Above all, borrowers must realize that private student loans require repayment, at the lender's discretion. You may complete your Private Loan Counseling by following the steps here. You must complete the counseling before UNT can release any of your private loan funding.
