Private Student Loans 
for Medical and Graduate Students

Private student loans can be borrowed up to a medical or graduate program's cost of attendance minus other financial aid (loans, scholarships and federal work study) awarded.

Lenders may offer variable and fixed interest rates for private student loans.

• Interest rates vary by lender and credit worthiness of borrowers and/or cosigners.

• Private student loans require credit checks as part of the application process.

  • Having a good credit rating and/or using a credit worthy cosigner may dramatically decrease your loan interest rate.

• Most private student loans do not have additional fees such as origination fees, but be sure to ask or conduct research.
• Discuss details and conditions with lender.

Loan repayment grace periods for private student loans vary by lenders.

• Many allow up to six months after student graduates or ceases to be enrolled at least half-time.

PCOM uses the FASTChoice web tool to host our preferred lender list.

• • PCOM maintains a preferred lender list in order to provide a comparison of selected lenders in relatively consistent terms. This helps assist borrowers to make well-informed decisions regarding education debt.
  • PCOM medical and graduate students have the right to select the lender of their choice, regardless of the lenders presented on our preferred lender list. The PCOM Financial Aid Office will process any approved private student loan for a student.
  • The preferred lender list review committee within the Office of Financial Aid gathers and considers information on all available private student loan lenders each calendar year. In considering which lenders are represented on our preferred lender list, the committee evaluates lenders based on the following criteria:
    • interest rates and borrower fees
    • cosigner requirements.
    • repayment options.
    • quality of the customer service of the lender.
    • additional benefits beyond the standard terms and conditions such as cosigner release and deferment options.

Our financial aid office has multiple helpful resources for graduate and medical students considering private student loan options:

• FastChoice lender list
  • Compare private student loans with PCOM's preferred lender list.
• Questions to ask on private student loans
  • Review important questions students should ask when comparing private student loans with federal student loans.
• PLUS vs private student loans
  • Compare the federal Graduate PLUS loan to private student loans.

Prospective and current students may contact the financial aid office to discuss student loan options.