LendKey Graduate Student Loan Review
Private Student Loans (Graduate)
Rewards: Autopay Discount
Flexibility: Offers borrowers a one-time payment due date change
Eligibility: Requires borrowers to become members of a participating credit union
Yearly Loan Limits: Covers 100% of your Cost of Attendance
Overall Loan Limits: $1,000 (minimum)
Cosigner Terms: Cosigner optional, allows for Cosigner Release after 24 on-time monthly payments
LendKey has some of the best repayment policies, offering lengthy maximum deferment and forbearance periods for borrowers in need. Even so, you’ll likely find better rates with other lenders, and be aware that LendKey capitalizes unpaid accrued interest on a quarterly basis for variable rate loans.
Pros
- Offers partial forbearance option
- Borrowers can customize payment due date
- Cosigner release option after 24 months of consecutive on-time monthly payments
Cons
- Capitalizes interest quarterly
- Charges a fee on late payments
- Does not automatically offer a discharge in the event of death or total permanent disability of the borrower
How does this loan compare?
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|---|---|---|---|
| Rates from (APR) i x While Savingforcollege.com strives to keep the information up to date, the lender rates, terms and other information are subject to change at any time. Interest rates listed include an autopay discount if available. |
Fixed:
4.39% - 10.39%
Variable:
5.90% - 10.37%
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Fixed:
3.69% - 14.30%
Variable:
5.89% - 15.97%
|
Fixed:
4.59% - 14.16%
Variable:
7.85% - 15.46%
|
| Loan repayment terms (Years) | 5 years, 10 years, 15 years | Up to 15 years | 7, 10, 12, 15 years |
| Cosigner release? | Yes, after 24 months on-time principal and interest payments | None | Yes, after 12 months on-time principal and interest payments |
Full Review
Certain elements of LendKey’s graduate student loan repayment policies are unparalleled. They offer a maximum in-school deferment period of up to 60 months, maximum forbearances of up to 12 months, and even a partial forbearance option (which prevents financially distressed borrowers from accruing an avalanche of unpaid interest). LendKey also allows you to customize your payment due date, allows for cosigner release after 24 months of on-time monthly payments, and offers a repayment term of 5 years (among others) for borrowers wanting to pay their student loan off quickly.
Other elements of LendKey’s repayment policies are lacking. Though most top lenders automatically discharge loans in cases where borrowers die or are permanently disabled, LendKey does not offer that same guarantee. Though they evaluate these situations on a case-by-case basis and ordinarily offer discharges in unusual circumstances like these, don’t count on it completely.
Also, if you let interest accrue on your variable-rate LendKey graduate student loan, beware of the mounting interest. LendKey will capitalize unpaid interest on a quarterly basis for these loans, meaning it is easy for your debt to snowball out of control.
LendKey - Private Student Loan Details
- Credit Check: Soft to check rates, hard to process application
- Repayment Terms: 5 years, 10 years, 15 years
- Minimum Borrowing Limit: $1,000
- Yearly Borrowing Limit: 100% of Cost of Attendance
- Aggregate Borrowing Limit: Not specified by lender
- Application Fee: None
- Origination Fee: None
- Prepayment Penalty: None
- Late Fee: Yes
- Minimum Credit Score: 660
- Minimum Annual Income: $24,000
- Maximum Debt-to-Income Ratio: 0.33
- Citizenship Restriction: Citizens or Residents
- Minimum Enrollment Restriction: Half-Time
- List of States where Loan is Not Available: None
- Approved Schools Include: Non-Profit
- Immediate Principal and Interest Repayment: None
- Fixed Monthly Repayment: Yes, 25
- Interest-Only Repayment: Yes
- Full Deferment: Yes
- Length of Grace Period: 6 months
- Maximum Deferment Period: 60 months
- Maximum Forbearance Period: 18 months
- Cosigner Release Option: Yes, after 24 months on-time principal and interest payments
- Death Discharge: Not automatic, but customary
- Disability Discharge: Not automatic, but customary
- US-Based Call Center: Yes
- Hours of Operation (in addition to weekdays): Evenings
- Application Timeline: "Application approvals are nearly instant (a few seconds) and completion can take 5-10 minutes with a 1-3 day business review prior to release of funds"
- Scholarship Search Tool: Yes
- Sponsors a Scholarship: None
- Job and Career Assistance: Yes
- Financial Literacy Training: Yes
Other Loans that LendKey Offers:
