Exhaust all federal grant and loans available to you before considering a private (alternative) loan. Borrowers should first review their school's preferred lender list for private loans if one is available. A school's preferred lender list entails a more rigorous and comprehensive evaluation process to find the best lenders for its students. Student Lending Analytics has developed a list of alternative loan options for undergraduates to serve schools and their students who need a focused resource for help in finding a private loan. This list was developed based on the collective decision-making of over 700 financial aid administrators at leading 2-year and 4-year institutions who have posted their 2008-09 alternative lender lists on their schools' financial aid websites. SLA identified those lenders appearing most frequently on those 700+ lender lists to create their Alternative Loan Options list. For additional information on selecting a private student loan, be sure to review our SLA Private Lender Ratings and the 2009 SLA Private Loan Guide

Disclaimer
SLA is an independent research and advisory firm that has NO affiliations with any student lenders. SLA HAS RECEIVED NO CONSIDERATION FROM ANY LENDERS FOR PLACEMENT ON THIS LIST. Placement on this list DOES NOT in any way constitute an endorsement from SLA NOR should it be construed as a preferred lender list. Rather, the list reflects the collective decision-making of over 700 financial aid administrators as described above. You are free to borrow from any lender of your choice. While SLA has made every effort to confirm each of the lender loan terms described below through website research and multiple calls to lender customer service representatives, it cannot guarantee its accuracy. Furthermore, not all the lenders listed below lend to all students at all schools.The borrower should confirm any and all loan terms with the lender PRIOR to accepting the loan and should ensure the loan is made through the school channel, rather than as a direct to consumer loan. Each lender’s position on the list is randomly determined and will change each time this page is accessed. SLA will update this page as necessary and will provide a date of last update at the top of the page. The information provided below is subject to change without notice.

*Campus Door has been excluded from this list because of the following statement on their website: "Please note that as a result of the current credit market environment we have implemented a newly revised and more stringent set of credit requirements. As a result of these changes, we have substantially narrowed the number of applicants whose credit we will approve. We appreciate your inquiry but want to be clear about the prospects of getting a loan with CampusDoor at this time."

*College Loan Corporation was removed from this list on 9/4/08 because they were unable to access funding. They hope to receive funding sometime within the timeframe of late September to early November.

*Edamerica has posted the following announcement on its website: "Our private loan product is currently under revision to better serve you. Please return after February 1, 2009, to complete your online loan application. If you have any questions, please call us at 800-337-6884."

*Key Bank announced on 9/26/08 that they will discontinue offering private student loans. While honoring existing education loan commitments, Key will cease taking applications for new private loans on October 31, 2008. Key will continue servicing the existing loans in its portfolio.

*Sallie Mae announced on 10/8/08 that they are tightening their underwriting on all private loan products and raising loan prices, as reported in the SLA Blog.