LelaCHOICE Graduate Student Loan

Eligibility Criteria

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

• Be of majority age pursuant to applicable law at the time of application or be an emancipated minor. An applicant not of majority age may apply with an eligible cosigner.
• Not have defaulted on any private or government student loan.
• Be a Louisiana resident attending any nonprofit, Title IV eligible, degree-granting, accredited college or university OR be a non-Louisiana resident attending any nonprofit, Title IV eligible, 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 a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. Cosigners must be citizens of the United States and must reside in the United States. Military addresses are considered U.S. addresses if designated as an APO or FPO.

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Underwriting Criteria

To qualify for the LelaCHOICE Student Loan, you or your cosigners must have:

• Monthly payments for approved credit (mortgages, rent, car loans, credit cards and other forms of credit, including the loan for which the student has submitted an application) that do not exceed 40% of gross monthly income (if a mortgage or rent is not included, debt-to-income ratio cannot exceed 25%). All student loan debt will be treated as though it is in repayment.
• Continuous employment over the last two (This requirement may be waived for retirees, disabled persons or those receiving a verified income.)
• A FICO score of at least 670 (The FICO score used is the TransUnion FICO Score 4, 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 charge-offs, repossessions, collection accounts, judgments, foreclosures, garnishments by credit providers or tax liens.
• No previous bankruptcies.
• Not defaulted on any private or government student loan.

Note: For joint cosigned loans, at least one cosigner must meet all credit underwriting criteria with the exception of the debt- to-income ratio.

Change Notice: Please note that the list of criteria above may not be exhaustive. Lela may require you or your cosigners 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 without notice.

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Repayment Benefits

As a LelaCHOICE Student Loan borrower, you can earn a 0.25% interest rate reduction ¹ when you sign up to have monthly payments automatically withdrawn.  With LelaCHOICE benefit, the interest rate range is 4.25% – 6.37% APR.

In addition, you may apply to release any cosigners from payment obligations:

• After the first 24 consecutive monthly principal and interest payments are received on time
• If you meet the underwriting and credit criteria at the time of the cosigner release is requested.

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.

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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. 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.

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Loan Amounts

The LelaCHOICE Student Loan must be:

• No more than the cost of attendance minus other aid annually.
• No more than $100,000 cumulative.
• At least $1,001.

The LelaCHOICE Student Loan is subject to credit approval.

The LelaCHOICE Student Loan is for creditworthy students. Note: Student applicants who do not meet the underwriting and credit criteria on their own may apply with cosigners.

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.