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Sallie Mae is known as one of the most popular lenders for private student loans, parent loans and graduate loans. But the company provides much more than student loans. From free scholarship searches to free tools to increase your savings, these are unique features Sallie Mae offers.
For Anyone:
Free scholarship search
For both undergraduate and graduate degrees, Sallie Mae offers a chance to find free money for college. Register and create a profile, and you’ll be notified when new scholarship matches become available.
Chance to win $1,000
If you register for the undergraduate or graduate scholarship search, you’ll be entered in a sweepstakes to win $1,000.
Use a free online piggy bank
SmartyPig allows you create specific savings goals and deadlines to reach these goals. Track your progress. You can set up automatic monthly or biweekly deposits from your bank account. Plus, earn a $10 reward for every friend you refer who opens a SmartyPig account.
Credit cards with great perks
Sallie Mae has two credit card options – one is a great credit card for college students and can help you build good credit, while the other credit card could help you pay back your student loans faster.
Sallie Mae Ignite – This credit card is geared towards college students. Earn 1% cash back on every purchase. If you make six-consecutive on-time payments you’ll get a 25% bonus on your cash back rewards.
Sallie Mae Accelerate – This credit card is great for accelerating how quick you can repay your student loans. Earn 1.25% cash back on every purchase. Then get a 25% bonus on cash back rewards when used to help pay down any student loan, both federal or private.
Other Savings Accounts
It’s not just student loans at Sallie Mae. You could also open a Certificate of Deposit, Money Market Account or High-Yield Savings Account.
For Borrowers:
Four-months of Chegg Study for free
If you borrow an undergraduate student loan or a private parent loan, you can have access to this benefit, which provides 24/7 assistance on homework help. It also has solutions for problems in thousands of college textbooks and fully-solved study questions.
30-minutes of Chegg Tutors
For undergraduate borrowers and parent borrowers, you have access to Chegg tutors to help with your studies for 30 minutes. Access online tutors for one-on-one homework assistance or exam prep.
Access to Easybib
Undergraduate borrowers also have access to Easybib for four months. This program helps with grammar, spelling and feedback to improve papers.
Forbearance option for student loans
Unlike federal student loans, not all private loans have the option to temporarily pause payments. However, Sallie Mae does offer this option. Forbearance can be authorized up to three months at a time, up to 12 months over the life of the loan.
Generous grace period for graduate loans
Graduate student loans, health profession graduate loans and MBA loans get a six-month grace period. While that’s pretty typically, following that, borrowers can make interest-only payments for 12 payments. Law school loans get a 9-month grace period, dental graduates get a 12-month grace period, medical school loans get a 36-month grace period and all three get the option to defer repayment for 48 months during residency or clerkship.
If you’re borrowing private student loans, compare lenders to see which is right for you.
At Savingforcollege.com, our goal is to help you make smart decisions about saving and paying for education. Some of the products featured in this article are from our partners, but this doesn’t influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own.
