Our experts answer readers' student loan questions and write unbiased product reviews (here's how we assess student loans). In some cases, we receive a commission from our partners; however, our opinions are our own.
Student loans may allow people to bridge the gap between what they can afford for college and the overall cost of an education. If you've already used your "free money" (scholarship, grants, and your savings) to pay for college and still find that you're unable to pay for school, a student loan could be a good option.
When considering your options, federal student loans should always take precedence over private ones. Federal loans have the lowest interest rates and come with a level of protection that private lenders don't offer.
The Best Graduate Student Loans of 2023
- Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
- Federal Direct PLUS Loan
- Ascent Graduate Student Loans
- College Ave Graduate Student Loans
- Earnest Graduate Student Loans
- Sallie Mae Graduate Student Loan
- Custom Choice Graduate Student Loans
Take the Biden administration's move to cancel federal student loan debt. The Supreme Court blocked the Department of Education's plan to forgive $10,000 in student loans for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year and as much as $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. The administration is likely to pursue other legal routes to implement student loan relief. If those plans succeed, federal loans will qualify for forgiveness, but private loans won't.
Graduate students don't qualify for all types of federal loans, but they are able to take out Direct Unsubsidized loans and Direct PLUS loans.
Here are some of the best options for graduate students looking to take out loans.
Compare the Best Graduate Student Loans
Graduate Student Loans Frequently Asked Questions
Your choice depends on your financial situation and the value you place on your education. You may consider alternatives such as a less expensive school, scholarships, or a side job to bring in more cash. Whatever your decision, make sure you fully understand the terms of your loan before making a commitment.
Keep in mind that interest will still accrue while you're in school, so it may be beneficial to make your interest payments each month or set aside a certain amount of money for monthly payments.
Paying either the principal of your student loans or the interest could be a good idea, because when your loan goes into repayment, any unpaid interest will capitalize. This means it will become part of the principal balance of your loan, which ups the loan. Interest is then determined using this new, higher loan balance.
Every lender is different when it comes to your repayment choices while you're in school. Some allow you to pay down your monthly debt in full every month, others offer interest-only or flat payments, and you may be able to defer all costs until after you graduate.
As you'll likely be repaying your student loans over a longer period, you'll want to know your options for your term length. You may want an extended length to spread your costs out, but be aware that you'll pay more in overall interest this way. Some lenders, like Sallie Mae, set your repayment term for you.
Federal student loans have a number of protections that private student loans don't. The loan forbearance during the coronavirus pandemic and recent student loan forgiveness are some examples.
Similarly, income-based repayment plans are only available for federal student loans, and help to lower payments to a percentage of a person's income. That's a protection not available to private student loan borrowers that could make a big difference.
It's a good idea to use all of your available federal loan options first to take advantage of these protections.
Yes, interest will accrue during the six-month grace period after you graduate, similarly to how it does while you are in school. Private lenders may have suspended this practice during the pandemic, but they are under no obligation to do so.
Fixed-interest rates stay the same for the life of the loan. Variable interest rates are exactly what they sound like — they have interest rates that change based on interest rate indexes, like the LIBOR or prime rate, plus a margin. When that index rate increases, the amount of interest you owe increases, along with your monthly payment.
On variable-rate loans, interest rates and payments change over time. So, it's important to remember that what goes up must come down, and vice versa. There's a chance that interest rates will increase before a long loan (like a student loan) is paid off, and your interest rate and payment may not always be as low as it is now.
The best choice for you depends on your financial situation and which way you believe the market is headed.
Unfortunately, private student loans are not eligible for any federal forgiveness programs. However, if you have federal student loans, you may be eligible for forgiveness if you are under a certain income threshold or if you work a certain job.
Methodology: How We Chose the Best Graduate Student Loans
Personal Finance Insider's mission is to help smart people make the best decisions possible with their finances. To do that, we looked through many student loan companies, comparing interest rates, terms, and fine print so you don't have to. We looked for several factors in determining the best student loans, including:
- Interest rates: The lower the interest rate the better, and we prioritized lenders with the lowest interest rates for graduate students.
- Nationwide availability: We searched for student loans available in all or most US states.
- Flexibility of repayment plans: There are four main options for repayment offered by most lenders: defer payments until after school; interest-only payments in school; small, fixed payments in school; and full monthly in-school payments. We looked for lenders with the most ways to pay.
- No or few fees: We prioritized lenders that didn't charge fees, like origination fees or prepayment penalties.
See our full ratings methodology for student loans >>
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Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
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Federal Direct PLUS Loan
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Ascent Graduate Student Loans
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College Ave Graduate Student Loans
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Earnest Graduate Student Loans
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Sallie Mae Graduate Student Loan
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Custom Choice Graduate Student Loans
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
Federal loans have some of the lowest rates around. And you don't need to have a superb credit score to qualify for them like you would with the private lenders on our list.
You'll also qualify for certain protections with federal loans that you otherwise wouldn't with private loans. This includes the ongoing repayment pause on federal loans and the potential for student loan forgiveness — though that is currently being challenged in courts.
What to watch out for: Interest will begin to accrue shortly after you take out the loan. This means that if you don't pay off your interest while in school, you'll end up with a higher balance than you initially borrowed.
Read more about direct unsubsidized loans.
Federal Direct PLUS Loan
Federal loans offer some of the lowest rates available, and you don't need to have excellent credit to qualify for them like you would with the private lenders on our list.
Additionally, you'll qualify for certain protections with federal loans that you otherwise wouldn't with private loans. This includes the ongoing repayment pause on federal loans and the potential for student loan forgiveness.
What to watch out for: You'll pay an origination fee of 4.228% with Direct PLUS loans, which will be deducted from the loan disbursement. However, there are no prepayment penalties with a Direct PLUS Loan, so you can pay it off early without facing a fee.
Ascent Graduate Student Loans
Ascent has a lower minimum APR on fixed-rate graduate student loans than most other competitors. However, its maximum APRs on both fixed and variable are higher than what you'll find at most comparable companies.
Ascent also doesn't charge any origination fees.
What to watch out for: Late payment fee. Ascent charges a late payment fee equivalent to 5% of the past due amount, up to a maximum of $25.
Read our Ascent graduate loans review.
College Ave Graduate Student Loans
College Ave offers many term lengths and doesn't charge any origination or prepayment fees. Five, eight, 10, or 15 year repayment terms are available. A longer repayment term will reduce out your monthly payments, but you'll pay more in overall interest.
What to watch out for: Middle-of-the pack interest rates. College Ave's graduate student loans aren't quite as good of an offering as its undergraduate students loans, as the lender has so-so APRs compared to competitors and comes with no extra perks.
Read our College Ave graduate loans review.
Earnest Graduate Student Loans
Earnest's loans have a distinguishing feature: the ability to skip one payment every year. You can request your first skip once you've made at least six months of consecutive on-time, full principal and interest payments, as long as your loan is in good standing.
However, interest will accrue during this time, and the lender will extend the final payoff date of your loan by the length of the skipped payment period.
What to watch out for: May need to add a cosigner. To get the lowest rates, you may need to enlist a cosigner to help. Cosigners can also help you qualify for a loan where you otherwise might not have.
Read our Earnest graduate loans review.
Sallie Mae Graduate Student Loan
Sallie Mae loans are available to international students with an eligible cosigner. Not all lenders allow international students to apply, so Sallie Mae may be able to help you if you're coming to the US to study from abroad.
What to watch out for: Only one repayment term option. Your repayment term will be set for you at 15 years. However, if you want to pay off your loan earlier and avoid forking over more cash in interest, you won't pay any prepayment penalties.
Read our Sallie Mae graduate loans review.
Custom Choice Graduate Student Loans
Custom Choice offers a 2% reduction of your loan's principal after you graduate. This may not seem like much, but will save you some on the overall cost of your loan.
What to watch out for: Credit check required. While most of the lenders on the list require a credit check, you run the risk of not qualifying if your credit isn't in the best shape.
Read our Custom Choice graduate loans review.
Other Graduate Student Loans We Considered
- Citizens Bank Graduate Student Loans. Citizens Bank offers good rates, but there are fewer repayment options through this lender, as Citizens doesn't give the option to pay while you're still in school.
- Discover Graduate Student Loans. While the lender has no fees, you can find more competitive APRs elsewhere.
- Credible Student Loans. Credible doesn't directly make student loans. Rather, it is a marketplace that makes loans through the lenders listed above and more. Credible works with Ascent, Citizens Bank, College Ave, and Sallie Mae, for example.
Which Graduate Student Loan Lender Is the Most Trustworthy?
We've only selected student loan lenders with no public controversies in the last three years. We've also compared each institution's Better Business Bureau score.
The BBB, a non-profit organization focused on consumer protection and trust, evaluates companies by judging a business's responses to consumer complaints, honesty in advertising, and clarity about business practices. Here is each company's score:
| Lender | BBB grade |
| N/A | |
| A- | |
| College Ave Graduate Student Loans | A+ |
| A | |
| A+ | |
| N/A |
Of our top private lender picks, only Custom Choice is not currently rated an A- or higher by the BBB. The BBB doesn't have a rating for Custom Choice. That said, this doesn't necessarily reflect Custom Choice's trustworthiness, and you should ask others about their experiences with the businesses before deciding against borrowing from the companies.
Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards.
Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.
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