Compare to the Grad PLUS Loan

It depends. We strongly encourage graduate students to understand and take advantage of all sources of student financial aid, including graduate unsubsidized federal loans. If you are considering a grad PLUS loan, another type of federal loan, you should compare rates and fees as the Partnership No-Cosigner Loan for Graduates offers many lower cost options.

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

• Be of majority age 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, accredited Iowa college or university or nonprofit school of nursing.
  • Nonprofit schools of nursing located in Iowa must be approved by the Iowa Board of Nursing.
• Be accepted, enrolled or attending on a full-time basis, as defined by the school, and be making satisfactory academic progress in an eligible graduate program.
• Be completing a majority of your coursework on campus (not online).*
• Be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.

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

No. At this time, the Partnership No-Cosigner Loan for Graduates is only available for graduate students attending an eligible Iowa college or university.

The Partnership No-Cosigner Loan for Graduates is for graduate full-time student borrowers. Cosigners are not accepted for this loan. If you have a creditworthy cosigner, consider the Partnership Loan as you may qualify for lower rates with that loan program.

To qualify, you must have:

• 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: The list of criteria above may not be exhaustive. Iowa Student Loan may require you to meet additional criteria in order to qualify for a loan. Iowa Student Loan reserves the right to change the list of criteria in any way from time to time.

You may borrow up to the cost of attendance minus other aid each year. Your school must certify that the amount you are requesting does not exceed this amount.

Use the student loan payment calculator to estimate how much your monthly student loan payment will be once you start repayment.

You can earn a 0.25% interest rate reduction by signing up to have principal and interest payments automatically withdrawn. The 0.25% interest rate reduction will apply once payments begin to be automatically deducted. The reduction 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 assistance or if automatic payments are rejected due to insufficient funds.

Interest that is not paid during deferments or under other circumstances is capitalized (or added to the principal balance of the loan). Interest on this loan capitalizes at:

• The end of any qualifying deferment period for all loan options.
• The start of repayment status for loans that do not require principal and interest or interest-only payments while the student is enrolled and during the separation period.
• The final disbursement of loans that require monthly principal and interest payments while the student is enrolled in school and that have more than one disbursement.

You may qualify for assistance based on your situation. Please call us as soon as possible if you experience issues, so we can help you avoid delinquency.

In the unfortunate event of a borrower's death or qualifying total and permanent disability, Iowa Student Loan will forgive the loan and not require the borrower's estate to satisfy the loan obligation. A tax professional or the IRS can provide additional information about possible tax consequences of loan forgiveness.

Customer service for all loans offered by Iowa Student Loan will be provided by Aspire Servicing Center, a wholly owned subsidiary of Iowa Student Loan.