Compare Private Student Loans

Before applying for a private student loan, SunTrust recommends comparing all financial aid alternatives including grants, scholarships, and both federal and private student loans.

Union Federal is a federally registered trademark of Cognition Financial Corporation. Start Student Loan is a trademark of Cognition Financial Corporation. Both are used by SunTrust Bank under license. SunTrust Bank is the lender of these private student loans and they are not offered in connection with any other lender or the federal government. Cognition Financial Corporation is not an affiliate of SunTrust Bank.

Certain restrictions and limitations may apply. SunTrust Bank reserves the right to change or discontinue these programs without notice. These loan programs are subject to approval under the SunTrust credit policy and other criteria and may not be available in certain jurisdictions.

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National Financial Wellness Study (2015), The Ohio State University. Link opens a new window

Earn an interest rate reduction for making automatic payments of principal and interest from a bank account (“auto pay discount”) by completing the direct debit form provided by the Servicer. Earn a 0.25% interest rate reduction when you auto pay from any bank account and an extra 0.25% interest rate reduction when you auto pay from a SunTrust Bank checking, savings, or money market account. The auto pay discount will be applied after the Servicer validates your bank account information and will continue until (1) three automatic deductions are returned for insufficient funds during the life of the loan (after which the discount cannot be reinstated) or (2) automatic deduction of payments is stopped (including during any deferment or forbearance, even if payments are made). In addition, the extra 0.25% interest rate reduction for auto pay from a SunTrust Bank checking, savings or money market account will be discontinued if automatic payments are no longer made from one of the aforementioned SunTrust Bank accounts. In the event the auto pay discount is discontinued, the loan will accrue interest at the rate stated in your Credit Agreement.

The principal reduction is based on the total dollar amount of all disbursements made, excluding any amounts that are reduced, cancelled, or returned. To receive this principal reduction, it must be requested from the servicer, the student borrower must have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher and proof of such graduation (e.g. copy of diploma, final transcript, or letter on school letterhead) must be provided to the servicer. This reward is available once during the life of the loan, regardless of whether the student receives more than one degree.

Private student loans that can be refinanced with a new SunTrust private student loan are private student loans and private consolidation loans that the student applicant used for, or used to refinance loans used for, certain postsecondary expenses not currently in a past due status. Loans that cannot be refinanced into this loan are (1) private student loans for which the student applicant is not the primary borrower, (2) Federal student loans and (3) student loans made by an educational institution. Loans being refinanced must have been used for "qualified higher education expenses" (defined by the Internal Revenue Code), which consists of expenses included in the Higher Education Act's definition of "cost of attendance".

Eligibility Requirements and Age Limits: the student must be enrolled at least half‐time or more in a degree granting program at an approved school. The student must be the legal age of majority at the time of application, or at least 17 years of age if applying with a cosigner who meets the age of majority requirements in the cosigner's state of residence. The legal age for entering into contracts is 18 years of age in every state except Alabama (19 years old), Nebraska (19 years old, only for wards of the state), Mississippi and Puerto Rico (21 years old). Private student loans funded by SunTrust are not available to students or cosigners who are permanent residents of Iowa or Wisconsin. All of SunTrust private student loans are available to U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens except that they are not available to permanent residents of Iowa or Wisconsin. International students can apply for the Union Federal Private Student Loan with an eligible cosigner who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien.

Interest rates and APRs (Annual Percentage Rates) depend upon (1) the student’s and cosigner’s (if applicable) credit histories, (2) the repayment option and repayment term, (3) the requested loan amount and (4) other information provided on the online loan application. If approved, applicants will be notified of the rate applicable to your loan. Rates and terms are effective for applications received after . The APRs for all products except the Start Student Loan assume a $10,000 loan with two disbursements and no auto pay; the low APRs assume a 7-year loan with no deferment and the high APRs assume a 15-year loan with full-deferment while in-school. The APRs for the Start Student Loan assume a 0% introductory APR for six months from the first disbursement date, a 15-year $10,000 loan, with two-disbursements and full deferment. The variable interest rate for each calendar month is calculated by adding the current index (One-month LIBOR index) to your margin. LIBOR stands for London Interbank Offered Rate. The One‐month LIBOR is published in the "Money Rates" section of the Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition). The One-month LIBOR index is captured on the 25th day of the immediately preceding calendar month (or if the 25th is not a business day, the next business day thereafter), and is rounded up to the nearest 1/8th of one percent. The current One‐month LIBOR index is % on . The variable interest rate will increase or decrease if the One‐month LIBOR index changes or if a new index is chosen. The applicable index or margin for variable rate loans may change over time and result in a different APR than shown. The fixed rate assigned to a loan will never change except as required by law or if you request and qualify for the auto pay discount(s).

The 0.25% interest rate reduction will automatically be applied if either one of the following payment conditions has been met: (a) the first 36 consecutive monthly payments are made on-time (received by the servicer within 10 calendar days after their due date) or (b) an amount equal to the first 36 months of scheduled payments (based on the monthly payment amount in effect when you make the most recent payment) has been paid and is not preceded by any late payments. Payments made prior to the start of your repayment term do not count toward the number of required monthly payments. As an example, if you have made 30 months of consecutive on-time payments, and then, based on the monthly payment amount in effect on the due date of your 31st consecutive monthly payment, you pay a lump sum equal to 6 months of payments, the reduction will be automatically applied as of your 31st payment.

All of SunTrust private student loans are available to U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens. International students can apply for the Union Federal Private Student Loan with an eligible cosigner who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien. None of SunTrust private student loans are available to students/cosigners who are permanent residents of Iowa or Wisconsin.

The minimum loan amount is $1,001 (except for the Start Student Loan for which the minimum loan amount is $5,001) with exceptions based on the student’s state of permanent residence, as follows: Alaska: $5,001, Colorado: $3,001, New Mexico: $2,501, Oklahoma: $5,201, Rhode Island: $5,001, South Carolina: $3,701. The maximum annual loan limit to cover in-school expenses for each academic year is determined by your school’s cost of attendance, minus other financial aid such as federal student loans, scholarships or grants, up to $65,000 (Custom Choice Loan, Start Student Loan and Union Federal Private Student Loan) or $95,000 (Graduate Business Loan). The loan amount must be certified by the school. In any event, the loan amount cannot cause the aggregate maximum student loan debt (which includes all student loans and certain unsecured consumer debt) to exceed $150,000 (Custom Choice Loan, Start Student Loan and Union Federal Private Student Loan) or $175,000 (Graduate Business Loan), per applicant (on cosigned applications, separate calculations are performed for the student and cosigner). If you choose the In-School Refinance Option, the maximum amount that you can refinance is subject to the aggregate maximum student loan debt limit ($150,000 or $175,000) minus the amount that you are applying for to cover in-school expenses.

View payment examples for the Custom Choice Loan, the Union Federal Private Student Loan, or the Graduate Business School Loan. Payment example for the Start Student Loan (assumes a 45-month deferment period, a six-month grace period before entering repayment, no auto pay discount, and the Full Deferment Repayment option): 15 year term: $10,000 loan disbursed over two transactions with, a 15-year repayment term (180 months) and a 8.937% APR would result in a monthly principal and interest payment of $145.91. The 15 year term and Partial Interest Repayment option (paying $25 per month during in-school deferment) are only available for loan amounts of $5,000 or more. The Full Deferment option is the only option offered on the Start Student Loan. Making interest only or partial interest payments during in-school deferment (including the grace period) will not reduce the principal balance of the loan.

Any applicant who applies for a loan the month of, the month prior to, or the month after the student’s graduation date, as stated on the application or certified by the school, will only be offered the Immediate Repayment option except that in this scenario, the Start Student Loan is not offered. The student must be enrolled at least half-time to be eligible for the partial interest, fully deferred and interest only repayment options unless the loan is being used for a past due balance and the student is out of school. Any applicant who applies for the Start Student Loan will only be offered the Full Deferment option and the loan cannot be used for a past due balance. With the Full Deferment option, payments may be deferred while the student is enrolled at least half-time at an approved school and during the six month grace period after graduation or dropping below half-time status, but the total initial deferment period, including the grace period, may not exceed 66 months from the first disbursement date. The Partial Interest Repayment option (paying $25 per month during in-school deferment) is only available on loans of $5,000 or more. View payment examples for the Custom Choice Loan, the Union Federal Private Student Loan or the Graduate Business School Loan. Payment example for the Start Student Loan (assumes a 45-month deferment period, a six-month grace period before entering repayment, no auto pay discount, and the Full Deferment Repayment option): 15 year term: $10,000 loan disbursed over two transactions with, a 15-year repayment term (180 months) and a 8.937% APR would result in a monthly principal and interest payment of $145.91. With the Immediate Repayment option, the first payment of principal and interest will be due approximately 30-60 calendar days after the final disbursement date and the minimum monthly payment will be $50.00. There are no prepayment penalties.

A cosigner may be released from the loan upon request to the servicer, provided that the student borrower is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien, has met credit criteria, and met either one of the following payment conditions: (a) the first 36 consecutive monthly principal and interest payments have been made on-time (received by the servicer within 10 calendar days after their due date) or (b) the loan has not had any late payments and has been prepaid prior to the end of the first 36 months of scheduled principal and interest payments in an amount equal to the first 36 months of scheduled principal and interest payments (based on the monthly payment amount in effect when you make the most recent payment). As an example, if you have made 30 months of consecutive on-time payments, and then, based on the monthly payment amount in effect on the due date of your 31st consecutive monthly payment, you pay a lump sum equal to 6 months of payments, you will have satisfied the payment condition. Cosigner release may not be available if a loan is in forbearance.

The Start Student Loan has a 0% introductory APR, meaning that the loan will not accrue interest during the introductory period. The Introductory Period will begin on the first disbursement date of the loan and end on that date which is six (6) months from the first disbursement date. By way of example only, if the first disbursement date is January 15, the introductory period will end on July 15. The fist disbursement date means the date on which loan funds are first transmitted on the student’s behalf.