Private Loans
Consider private loans as a last resort!
You should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and determine your federal eligibility before seeking any private loans.
For questions on your eligibility, contact or visit the Office of Financial Aid.
Private loans can be beneficial to students who need funding over and above their eligibility for Federal Direct Loans. For law and graduate students, the Graduate PLUS Loan is designed for eligibility beyond the Direct Loan. For dependent undergraduate students, the Parent PLUS Loan is designed for eligibility beyond the Direct Loan. Only independent undergraduate students should consider the private loan after Direct Loan eligibility.
Students ineligible for federal loan programs and those who do not meet the half-time enrollment requirement for Federal Direct Loans should consider a private student loan. The borrower's eligibility is based on his or her credit worthiness. Some students will be required by the lender to have a co-signer. The application and approval process is done directly with the lender of your choice.
There are many lending institutions, so students and parents should carefully research each lender and choose the one that best fits their individual needs. You may consider using ElmSelect, a website that allows students to compare private loans.
The ElmSelect displays a neutral list (in random order) of private lenders that the University of Baltimore students have borrowed from within the past three years. Please remember that the list of lenders on Elm is not comprehensive. The University of Baltimore does not prefer, recommend, promote, endorse or suggest any of these lenders.
After you have completed your application, the loan request will:
- Be sent electronically from the lender to our loan data provider, ELM, and
- We will receive the loan request and certify your loan eligibility on ELM, and
- ELM will send notification to your lender that the loan request has been certified, and
- The lender will schedule the electronic funds transfer (EFT) directly to the University of Baltimore
- Please monitor and respond quickly to any school or lender requests.
We are providing this information to increase your options for financial aid. However, we strongly encourage you to take advantage of the federal loan programs first. Many educational loans require immediate repayment and cannot be deferred.
Graduate and law students should consider the Graduate PLUS Loans as an alternative to the private educational loan. Unlike the undergraduate Parent PLUS Loan, the student, not the parent, is the borrower. Some of the Graduate PLUS features include:
• Consolidation and repayment options
• Automatic in-school deferment
• Low fixed interest rate