Smart Option Student Loan® for Undergraduate Students

For bachelor's and associate's degrees or a certificate at a degree-granting school

Apply for this loan

For bachelor's and associate's degrees or a certificate at a degree-granting school

Apply for this loan

Variable rates

4.25% APR*

to 11.35% APR1

Fixed rates

5.49% APR*

to 11.85% APR1

*Lowest rates shown include the auto debit discount for our undergraduate student loan1

See all our student loans

Get the money you need, plus features that can help make college happen

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100% coverage

Pay all your school-certified undergraduate student loan expenses.2

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No origination fee or prepayment penalty

Pay as early and as much as you'd like with no penalty.3

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Cost-saving features

Lower your interest rate when you choose in-school repayment, plus get a 0.25 percentage point reduction with auto debit.4

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Free study help from Chegg®

Get four months of free study and homework support, worth $100, with Study StarterSM.5

Tip for borrowers

An undergraduate student loan can help you build credit, and we'll help you track it with free access to your FICO® Scores, updated quarterly.6

Learn more about FICO® Scores

Choose the undergraduate loan options that work for you

Select a fixed or variable interest rate

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Variable rates: 4.25% – 11.35% APR

Get a rate that may be less than a fixed interest rate, which could result in a lower total loan cost. You may pay more for your total student loan cost because a fixed interest rate is usually higher than a starting variable interest rate.

Fixed rates: 5.49% – 11.85% APR

Your student loan interest rate can rise or fall as the market index changes, so your undergraduate student loan payments may vary over time.

Pay it back now
or later

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Interest repayment option

By making monthly interest payments in school, freshman students may save 29% on their total loan cost by choosing this repayment option instead of the deferred repayment option.1

Fixed repayment option

By making monthly $25 payments in school, freshman students may save 14% on their total loan cost by choosing this repayment option instead of the deferred repayment option.1

Deferred repayment option

Make no payments until after you leave school for budget flexibility.1

Tip for borrowers

Not sure how much to borrow? Here's info to help you figure out the right amount.

Learn about how much to borrow

Applying is easy

Tip for applying

Information you'll want to have ready when you apply: address, Social Security number, school information, how much you're requesting, and financial and employment information. If you're applying with a cosigner, we'll ask them to provide some information about themselves. Either a borrower or a cosigner can start the application.

Have questions or need help applying?

Private student loans are credit-based, which means we will check your credit when you submit your application. Students are nearly 4 times more likely to be approved with a cosigner8 since many students haven't had time to build up their own credit. A cosigner is someone who shares responsibility with you for paying back the loan and is often a parent, but can be any creditworthy adult.

Students can apply just once a year with a single credit check and funds are sent for each term directly to your school. You can cancel future disbursements as needed with no penalty. No additional interest is charged until money is sent to your school, so you can relax, knowing you've got the funds when you need them.

It takes about 15 minutes to apply and get a credit decision. After you're approved, you choose your loan options, accept your loan disclosure, and the loan is certified by your school. We send (disburse) the funds directly to the school. The process can take as few as 10 business days from application to disbursement.

Parents can help their students pay for college in two ways: they can cosign a Smart Option Student Loan or take out a Sallie Mae Parent Loan in their own name. These are separate loans with different features and interest rates, so parents should compare their loan options.

With the Smart Option Student Loan, you can select from three repayment options—you can choose to make payments while in school with monthly interest payments or with fixed $25 payments,6 or you can choose to defer payments until after school.1 No matter which option you choose, you have six months after you leave school (your grace period) before you begin to make principal and interest payments.

When you apply, we look at your history of borrowing money and paying it back on time. Lenders want to know how creditworthy, or responsible, you are with credit, before approving your student loan application.

Many college-bound high school students haven't had time to build up their own credit. That's why they apply with a cosigner, a creditworthy adult who shares the responsibility of the student loan.

You and your cosigner will want to have your social security number, school information, amount needed (remember, you can use it to pay for school-certified expenses for the entire year) as well as your financial and employment information. You or your cosigner may start the application, however should your cosigner not be with you, we can send along an email with a link to their section of the application so they can fill it in later.

Call us at 877-279-7172

Looking for another type of student loan?
See all private student loans
Borrow responsibly

We encourage students and families to start with savings, grants, scholarships, and federal student loans to pay for college. Students and families should evaluate all anticipated monthly loan payments, and how much the student expects to earn in the future, before considering a private student loan.

This information is for undergraduate borrowers attending degree-granting institutions only. You must be attending a participating school located in the U.S. or have attended one during an eligible prior enrollment period. You must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident or a Non-U.S. citizen borrower with a creditworthy cosigner (who must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident) and required U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) documentation. U.S. citizens and permanent residents enrolled in eligible study abroad programs or who are attending or have attended schools located outside the U.S. are also eligible. Applications are subject to a requested minimum loan amount of $1,000. Current credit and other eligibility criteria apply.

1 Interest rates for Fixed and Deferred Repayment Options are higher than interest rates for the Interest Repayment Option. You're charged interest starting at disbursement, while in school, during your separation/grace period, and until the loan is paid in full. The repayment option that is selected will apply during the in-school and separation/grace periods. When you enter principal and interest repayment, Unpaid Interest will be added to your loan's Current Principal. Variable rates may increase over the life of the loan. Advertised variable rates reflect the starting range of rates and may vary outside of that range over the life of the loan. Advertised APRs assume a $10,000 loan to a freshman with no other Sallie Mae loans.

2 Sallie Mae reserves the right to approve a lower loan amount than the school-certified amount.

3 Although we do not charge you a penalty or fee if you prepay your loan, any prepayment will be applied as provided in your promissory note: First to Unpaid Fees and costs, then to Unpaid Interest, and then to Current Principal.

4 Borrower or cosigner must enroll in auto debit through Sallie Mae. The rate reduction benefit applies only during active repayment for as long as the Current Amount Due or Designated Amount is successfully withdrawn from the authorized bank account each month. This benefit may be suspended during periods of forbearance or deferment, if available for the loan.

5 This promotional benefit is provided at no cost to borrowers with loans that first disburse between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019. Borrowers who reside in, attend school in, or borrow for a student attending school in Maine are not eligible for this benefit. No cash value. Terms and Conditions apply. Please visit Chegg.com/studystarter/termsandconditions for complete details. This offer expires one year after issuance.

6 Borrowers and cosigners who have an available FICO® Score and a Sallie Mae loan with a current balance greater than $0, may receive their score quarterly after the first disbursement of their loan. The FICO® Score provided to you is the FICO® Score 8 based on TransUnion data, and is the same score that Sallie Mae uses, along with other information, to manage your account. FICO® Scores and associated educational content are provided solely for your own non-commercial personal review, use and benefit. This benefit may change or end in the future. FICO® is a registered trademark of the Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and other countries.

7 This repayment example is based on a typical Smart Option Student Loan made to a freshman borrower who chooses a fixed rate and the Fixed Repayment Option for a $10,000 loan, with two disbursements, and a 8.88% fixed APR. It works out to 51 payments of $25.00, 119 payments of $162.06 and one payment of $120.23, for a Total Loan Cost of $20,680.37.

8 Savings comparison assumes a freshman student with no other Sallie Mae loans receives a $10,000 Smart Option Student Loan with the most common fixed rate as of November 2018.

9 This information based on new Smart Option Student Loan originations during 2017.

Smart Option Student Loans are made by Sallie Mae Bank or a lender partner.

Information advertised valid as of 2/25/2019.

SALLIE MAE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. CHECK SALLIEMAE.COM FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE PRODUCT INFORMATION.

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