Alternative Loans
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UIC encourages students to discuss their options (such as monthly plans: https://paymybill.uic.edu/payments/paymentplan) with a Financial Aid Advisor prior to pursuing private alternative loans. The terms of Federal Student Loans are generally more favorable and should be utilized before private student loans.
www.finaid.org maintains a thorough list of private lenders, but UIC is NOT responsible for the accuracy of their information. UIC does not have a preferred lender list.
Remember to carefully read the terms, conditions, and requirements of any private loan. Some lenders will not approve loans for the following scenarios:
- Non-degree seeking
- Less than half-time enrollment
- Balance is from a previous semester
- Student is receiving aid up to the Cost of Attendance (COA). Estimated COA can be found at https://financialaid.uic.edu/cost/cost-attendance-coa/
- Student is not meeting the UIC’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements. UIC’s SAP policy is available at https://financialaid.uic.edu/aid-process/sap-policy-appeal/
After approving a loan application, lenders will send a certification request to the school to verify the amount requested does not exceed the COA and meets the lender’s requirements.
The school will apply the loan to the student account after the lender sends the funds. The funds will pay to charges for tuition, fees, housing, etc. Any surplus funds are refunded to the student by University Bursar (https://paymybill.uic.edu/).