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The Better Choice for Low-Interest Student Loans in Louisiana

Lela makes higher education more accessible and affordable for grad students in Louisiana

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*Will not impact your credit score.

Rates AS LOW AS 5.45%* with autopay

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Why Choose Lela?

  • No Cosigner Required
  • Fixed Lower Interest Rates
  • No Origination or Processing Fees
  • No Capitalized Interest, Ever!
  • Earn an Interest Rate Reduction with Auto Payment
  • No Hidden Fees or Rate Hikes

LelaCHOICE

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Annual percentage rates (APRs) assume you are enrolled in and maintain auto-debit payments from the date of origination. Enrolling in auto-debit results in a 0.25% interest rate reduction. Without enrolling in auto-debit, the rate will range from 5.70% APR to 5.80% APR. Not all borrowers receive the lowest rate. If you are approved for a loan, the rate offered will depend on your credit profile and the term you select and will be within the ranges shown above assuming the auto-debit interest rate reduction applies

About Lela

The Louisiana Education Authority (Lela) is a division of the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority (LPFA), a nonprofit public trust established to bring financing assistance and advantages to the people of Louisiana.

Lela has saved students more than $23 million by paying upfront fees for students on their federal student loans, and through incentives, has offered borrowers the potential to save more than $255 million throughout repayment!

Lela has saved students more than $23 million

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*Will not impact your credit score.

  • 500,000+ students helped with college financing
  • One nonprofit mission
  • 45 Years of experience in student lending
  • 100% Louisiana-based nonprofit organization

LelaCHOICE No-Cosigner Loan for Graduates offers great rates with or without autopay

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*Will not impact your credit score.

LelaCHOICE for grad students in Louisiana Loan

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Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for this private student loan, you must:

  • Be a Louisiana resident and of majority age (Louisiana- 18 years old), pursuant to applicable law at the time of application or be an emancipated minor.
  • Not have defaulted on any private or government student loan.
  • Be attending any nonprofit, Title IV eligible, degree-granting, and/or non-degree granting, accredited Louisiana college or university.
  • Be accepted, enrolled or attending on at least a half-time basis, as defined by the school, and be making satisfactory academic progress in an eligible education program.
  • Be completing a majority of your coursework on campus (not online).*
  • Be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.

Underwriting Criteria

To qualify for this LelaCHOICE Student Loan, you must have:

  • A FICO score of at least 670. (The FICO score used is the TransUnion FICO Score 8, which is based on data from TransUnion and may be different from other credit scores. FICO is a registered trademark of the Fair Isaac Corporation.)
  • No more than two accounts reporting 30-day delinquencies and no delinquencies of 60 days or more during the previous two years.
  • No previous bankruptcies.
  • No charge-offs, repossessions, collection accounts, judgments, foreclosures, garnishments by credit providers or tax liens.
  • Not defaulted on any private or government student loan.

Note: The list of criteria above may not be exhaustive. The Louisiana Education Loan Authority (Lela) through its servicer, Aspire, may require you to meet additional criteria in order to qualify for a loan. Lela reserves the right to change the list of criteria in any way from time to time.

Repayment Benefits

Interest Rate Reduction
As a LelaCHOICE loan borrower, you can earn a 0.25% interest rate reduction1 when you sign up to have monthly payments automatically withdrawn.

No Capitalized Interest
Lela never capitalizes interest during repayment. That means you never pay interest on interest and can mean lower costs if you need to use forbearance to postpone payments at any point.

Cosigner Release
No Cosigner required.

* Exceptions will be made for on-campus classes shifted to online classes due to COVID-19.

1 The 0.25% interest rate reduction will apply once principal and interest payments begin to be automatically deducted and will remain in effect as long as automatic payments continue without interruption during the repayment period. The 0.25% interest rate reduction will not lower the monthly payment amount but will instead reduce the interest amount that accrues. The interest rate reduction will be suspended during approved forbearance(s) or if automatic payments are rejected due to insufficient funds. In addition, unlike some lenders, Lela never capitalizes interest during repayment. That means you never pay interest on interest and can mean lower costs if you need to use forbearance to postpone payments at any point.

Repayment Choices

With the LelaCHOICE Student Loan, you choose when to start making payments.

The Immediate Payment option features our lowest rates. This option:

  • Requires monthly principal and interest payments once the loan is fully disbursed.
  • Has a 10-year principal and interest repayment period.

The Interest-Only Payment option:

  • Requires monthly interest payments once the loan is first disbursed.
  • Features a six-month separation period when interest-only payments are required after you graduate, drop below half-time enrollment or leave school.
  • Has a 10-year principal and interest repayment period.

The Deferred Payment option:

  • Postpones repayment until after you graduate, leave school or drop below half-time enrollment.
  • Features a six-month separation period with no required payments.
  • Has a 15-year principal and interest repayment period.

In addition, unlike some lenders, Lela never capitalizes interest during repayment. This means you never pay interest on interest and can mean lower costs if you need to use forbearance to postpone payments at any point.

Loan Amounts

The LelaCHOICE Student Loan must be:

  • No more than the cost of attendance minus other aid annually.
  • No more than $170,000 cumulative for student borrowers
  • At least $1,001.

Please note: Aspire Servicing Center has a contractual relationship with the Louisiana Education Loan Authority (Lela) wherein Aspire Servicing Center performs certain private student loan (private loan) services for Lela.

Change Notice: Lela reserves the right to change the program in any way from time to time without notice.

Choose LelaCHOICE for for grad students in Louisiana

Choose Quality. Choose Community. Choose Lela!

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*Will not impact your credit score.

Disclosure with Lender Rates

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Many lenders only offer limited information about their actual rates upfront. They do not provide all the rate details within the range of rates depicted on these graphs. The specific rate an applicant is offered will be determined by the loan type selected and the applicant’s or, if applicable, the cosigner’s, credit history and credit score. APRs were retrieved from the lenders’ websites on August 16, 2022, for fixed-rate loans for student borrowers while the student is enrolled at least half time and for parent or family borrowers while the student for whom the loan is being requested is enrolled at least half time. The ranges contain rates offered to applicants with a wide range of credit scores and for a variety of repayment options and terms.

Because each lender offers different in-school repayment options and different repayment terms, an identical loan comparison between lenders is not possible. However, the APRs in the chart are listed as the highest and lowest rates for each lender and include potential rate reductions that may not apply to every borrower. For example, a 0.25% automatic payment interest rate reduction (repayment benefit) has been included for the lowest and highest rates displayed LelaCHOICE and SoFi loans but only the lowest rate displayed for Discover and Sallie Mae loans. For complete details on how APRs were calculated, visit the lenders’ websites. The U.S. Department of Education does not provide APR calculations for federal loans. As a guide for comparing costs, however, the costs of the Federal Direct PLUS Loan is approximately equivalent to an APR of 7.25%, which is based on borrowing $10,000, a 4.228% origination fee and a fixed interest rate of 6.28% (the rate for the 2021–2022 academic year) during the 120-month principal and interest repayment period.

Before applying for a student loan from any lender, you should consider additional characteristics, including: credit requirements, monthly payment amount, origination fees, capitalization frequency, borrower benefits and protections, repayment term, when repayment begins, and the total amount to be repaid over the life of the loan.

The LelaCHOICE Student and Parent loans are subject to credit approval. Loan servicing, including billing and other customer service, will be provided by Aspire Servicing Center.

Lowest APRs are reserved for the most creditworthy applicants. For Discover, rates include an interest only repayment discount and includes an Auto Debit reward.