Discover Stafford Loans

[abbaroodle]

Hi,

Has anyone gone with Discover loans? They seem to have no fees (origination or default). However my financial aid office seems pretty convinced that all lenders are charging the fees. Just wondering what other people's experience has been...

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[ClockworkDoc]

I don't know about Discovery Stafford, but Chase has a health student loan with no fee's and other incentives.

 

[rgerwin]

That's crap. There are lenders with no fees for stafford. GradPlus is another story

 

[abbaroodle]

I don't know about Discovery Stafford, but Chase has a health student loan with no fee's and other incentives.

FYI, Chase does charge the 1% fee if you dont have everything processed by June 1st. (And I know my financial aid office wont get around to getting it in by then....)

I have found it very helpful to call the banks and ask, even if the website says there are no fees, and specify that you are interested in loans for next year, as of July 1st. (A couple told me no fees. But then when I specified the date they said no fees until June 30th, 2008. Sneaky!)

 

[abbaroodle]

That's crap. There are lenders with no fees for stafford. GradPlus is another story

Which ones? Any recommendations for a lender for next year? Because I havent had any luck so far finding one....

 

[srh]

I actually just signed up with them today for my subsidized loan and asked if they really had no fees and they said it is true. The only fees that would accrue is if it is unsubsized and those fees would be the interest. So yes, Discover truly has no fees! I have a credit card with them and asked if I could have the payments automatically draft from my credit card instead of my checking account and they said yes to that as well. I personally love Discover so far and their customer service seems to be great. I think this is a great choice!

 

[Asp]

So I looked at their website and it says their loan limit is around 10k. What if we need to borrow more than that?

 

[plauto]

FYI, Chase does charge the 1% fee if you dont have everything processed by June 1st. (And I know my financial aid office wont get around to getting it in by then....)

I have found it very helpful to call the banks and ask, even if the website says there are no fees, and specify that you are interested in loans for next year, as of July 1st. (A couple told me no fees. But then when I specified the date they said no fees until June 30th, 2008. Sneaky!)

Chase is now changing the terms retroactively. I just called yesterday to make sure everything was fine, and they said that, even though my loans were certified in May, they are now going to charge me an origination and default fee and repayment bonus is going to be only .25%, not 1% anymore. So check with them even though you had all the paperwork done by the end of May. I am now looking at Discover and Edamerica.
As I said once before, chase sucks. They have been, at best, extremely misleading in this whole process. If you applied for their loans call them and check for yourself, you're not going to be happy. There is still plenty of time to change lender. Good luck!

 

[Guile]

Chase is now changing the terms retroactively. I just called yesterday to make sure everything was fine, and they said that, even though my loans were certified in May, they are now going to charge me an origination and default fee and repayment bonus is going to be only .25%, not 1% anymore. So check with them even though you had all the paperwork done by the end of May. I am now looking at Discover and Edamerica.
As I said once before, chase sucks. They have been, at best, extremely misleading in this whole process. If you applied for their loans call them and check for yourself, you're not going to be happy. There is still plenty of time to change lender. Good luck!

Call back and talk to someone else. Make sure you give them your social (unnerving, I know) and that they look at your account. Your loan must not have been guaranteed before June 1. I just called and asked. They looked up my loan and verified that since it was guaranteed before June 1, I won't be charged any fees AND my lender benefits are set in stone and cannot be taken away.

I happen to think that Chase is one of the better lenders because they are one of the few who will not take away your benefits. However, if you haven't already gotten a loan, it seems that Discover is the best thing going around. No fees. I would take no fees over some promised benefits because they can't retroactively charge some fees but it seems that some lenders do take away benefits. Who knows, maybe in a few years the credit markets will have recovered completely, and there will be good benefits going around and we can all consolidate with a lender with good benefits and save a bunch of money.

 

[GLENMARK]

Hi,

Has anyone gone with Discover loans? They seem to have no fees (origination or default). However my financial aid office seems pretty convinced that all lenders are charging the fees. Just wondering what other people's experience has been...

Yes, Discover does not charge any fees.

 

[plauto]

Call back and talk to someone else. Make sure you give them your social (unnerving, I know) and that they look at your account. Your loan must not have been guaranteed before June 1. I just called and asked. They looked up my loan and verified that since it was guaranteed before June 1, I won't be charged any fees AND my lender benefits are set in stone and cannot be taken away.

I happen to think that Chase is one of the better lenders because they are one of the few who will not take away your benefits. However, if you haven't already gotten a loan, it seems that Discover is the best thing going around. No fees. I would take no fees over some promised benefits because they can't retroactively charge some fees but it seems that some lenders do take away benefits. Who knows, maybe in a few years the credit markets will have recovered completely, and there will be good benefits going around and we can all consolidate with a lender with good benefits and save a bunch of money.

what benefits? They are not giving out any benefits except the .25% interest reduction for automated payments that almost everybody is giving out.

 

[Guile]

what benefits? They are not giving out any benefits except the .25% interest reduction for automated payments that almost everybody is giving out.

No true. They are giving the 1% interest rate reduction for those who had their loans guaranteed before May 31.

 

[plauto]

No true. They are giving the 1% interest rate reduction for those who had their loans guaranteed before May 31.

do you have a binding paper that says that? A binding contract?
Unfortunately Stafford Lenders can say whatever they want, but can change the terms at any moment for any reason.
If, in fact, you did get the repayment benefits in writing, what documents did they give you and how did you manage to get them to do that?

 

[Guile]

do you have a binding paper that says that? A binding contract?
Unfortunately Stafford Lenders can say whatever they want, but can change the terms at any moment for any reason.
If, in fact, you did get the repayment benefits in writing, what documents did they give you and how did you manage to get them to do that?

Look chief, I'm just telling you what the kind lady at Chase told me. She looked up my account and said I wasn't going to be charged any fees and would still have my borrower benefits. She said they were "set in stone." Maybe they can legally take them away, but Chase policy is that if you qualify for borrower benefits when your loan is guaranteed, then you have them until the loan is repaid. What else can I do but take them at their word? I don't think they will give me a written confirmation of this.

Call Chase and ask them about your account specifically. Good luck.

 

[lucky lady]

I just talked to Discover (I called twice to make sure) They said no fees even after July 1 and 8.25 on Grad plus. They also will not sell your loan. They have only been in the student loan market 1 1/2 year. How long will they be here? maybe they hope to make money on their credit cards?? anyone else want to chime in??

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

I just talked to Discover (I called twice to make sure) They said no fees even after July 1 and 8.25 on Grad plus. They also will not sell your loan. They have only been in the student loan market 1 1/2 year. How long will they be here? maybe they hope to make money on their credit cards?? anyone else want to chime in??

Sounds like a good deal. Who cares if they sell the loan; Having no fees is the most important right now. Sounds like they will have my business.

 

[rgerwin]

Not mine, sadly. They don't participate with my school.

 

[lucky lady]

you should contact them. when I talked to them they were adding 1500 schools

 

[rgerwin]

I did, 2 days ago. No dice.

 

[Guile]

I just talked to Discover (I called twice to make sure) They said no fees even after July 1 and 8.25 on Grad plus. They also will not sell your loan. They have only been in the student loan market 1 1/2 year. How long will they be here? maybe they hope to make money on their credit cards?? anyone else want to chime in??

8.25% for Grad Plus? They give you a 0.25% IRR immediately? That's even better.

 

[rgerwin]

They added my school, I changed today. Thanks for the info!

 

[loved]

Can someone tell me how often Discover capitalizes interest during postponement periods?

 

[abbaroodle]

They added a bunch of schools in the last couple days. I dont know what you had to do before to apply, but it certainly makes it easier.


Whats the max folks have gotten from them? Anyone gotten more than the 10K they talk about? I would like to do all my staffords with them, but if I can only do 10K, I guess I will do subsidized with them and unsubsidized with someone else....

 

[rgerwin]

they will give you what you are certified for

 

[lucky lady]

They added a bunch of schools in the last couple days. I dont know what you had to do before to apply, but it certainly makes it easier.


Whats the max folks have gotten from them? Anyone gotten more than the 10K they talk about? I would like to do all my staffords with them, but if I can only do 10K, I guess I will do subsidized with them and unsubsidized with someone else....

My school fin aid package gave $8500 (max) sub stafford and $32,000 unsub Stafford and up to $32,000 grad plus.... private loan. The school tells how much you qualify for..

 

[lucky lady]

They added my school, I changed today. Thanks for the info!

I am glad the info. helped. always good to save money

 

[TMP-SMX]

I was in the process of applying to Citi and changed my mind to go with Discover. I applied today and did all of the paperwork. It was painless.

 

[FenixTx]

s

 

[lucky lady]

I've seen some people refer to discover and discovery in this thread. Are these the same lenders?

yes the same

 

[loved]

There is a Discovery FCU student lender based in Reading, PA.

 

[FenixTx]

d

 

[TMP-SMX]

Depends on your school. Wayne has an "Other Lender" form on their financial aid website that I printed, filled out, and faxed to them. The next day I had no more "choose a lender" outstanding requirement on my record.

 

[Cymbidium]

Just wanted to thank you guys for all of the Discover research. I'm going with them as well. The financial aid office said I'm the only person to ever use discover (so far)!

 

[lucky lady]

Just wanted to thank you guys for all of the Discover research. I'm going with them as well. The financial aid office said I'm the only person to ever use discover (so far)!

Well I hope it works out for all of us..... As I am going with Discover too.. They have only been giving out student loans for only 1 1/2 hears and they have added over 1500 schools this year. so I am not surprised.... it is great to be the first ha ha ha

 

[msjang]

This might be worth knowing...Discover capitalize on interest every month during repayment period. This is actually quite bad right? Since other lenders like T.H.E. capitalize on interest only once when you enter repayment.

 

[loved]

This might be worth knowing...Discover capitalize on interest every month during repayment period. This is actually quite bad right? Since other lenders like T.H.E. capitalize on interest only once when you enter repayment.

This is the info I received when I called, too. Then I called a few days later to confirm and a rep told me that they do NOT capitalize interest every month during repayment period; however, he went further to say that "interest is capitalized once at repayment and never afterwards." His second statement sounded strange to me as well b/c do not most lenders capitalize interest at repayment AND other loan status changes?

Both times I asked the reps if they were SURE about what they were saying and they said yes. What the heck! I was going to call them a third time, but what are the odds of me getting a knowledgeable representative??

 

[msjang]

Thanks for sharing your info with us|

I will call them again and let you know what I get for an answer. I will also ask them if it is in their contract (how often they capitalize on their interest), so we can have a solid proof this way

 

[UserNameNeeded]

The Discover representative told me they capitalize the interest at repayment (which is how it's usually done), but that during repayment they calculate interest *daily* on the newly accruing interest + the principal balance. She said she was reading this from the MPN and the MPN is an industry-wide form, so all lenders do it this way.

 

[goosie]

How do you find out if Discover participates with your school? Is it on the Discover website or your school's? Or do I need to call?

 

[FenixTx]

s

 

[msjang]

Hi guys,

what I got for an answer is basically what other SDNers have posted, which is that discover capitalize interest once, which is during repayment. And if you go into deferment or forbearance status, interest is capitalized one more time also, but no more after that. So Discover is the same as other better lenders out there.

But I don't think Discover is the best deal out there, have you guys checked out National City? they are offering 0% origination and default fee, a 0.3% interest rate reduction if you use automated payment, plus another 0.3% reduction if you have 24 on time payments. i dont know yet about the interest capitalization policy..will call and ask.

https://www.studentlender.com/StudentLoanApplicationGuide/default.aspx

 

[loved]

Hi guys,

what I got for an answer is basically what other SDNers have posted, which is that discover capitalize interest once, which is during repayment. And if you go into deferment or forbearance status, interest is capitalized one more time also, but no more after that. So Discover is the same as other better lenders out there.

But I don't think Discover is the best deal out there, have you guys checked out National City? they are offering 0% origination and default fee, a 0.3% interest rate reduction if you use automated payment, plus another 0.3% reduction if you have 24 on time payments. i dont know yet about the interest capitalization policy..will call and ask.

https://www.studentlender.com/StudentLoanApplicationGuide/default.aspx

Thanks for the info! I will be calling National City tomorrow, too. Maybe we can compare our results.

 

[Hysteria24]

For the National Grad Plus loan it says: "Rate is fixed at 7.65% for all borrowers beginning at disbursement and remains fixed through the life of the loan."

This is almost a 1% savings (regularly 8.5%). There seems like there should be some catch, as this the lowest interest rate I've seen.

On another note... I clicked on the tab where you apply. You have to enter in a state, and it pulls up eligible schools. It does not pull up a single CA school so they many not be eligible.

 

[msjang]

Yeah, there is a catch with National City.

For the 0% default fee, it will depend on where you go to school. If your school is in Pennsylvania, you are set, 0% default fee. BUT, if your school is somewhere else, like in Illinois, there is a 1% default fee. So be careful to check out whether the state you are going to school in, will incur a default fee or not. and it is 0% origination fee no matter what state you go to. (I thought it was very deceiving of National City to put 0% default with no other information on their website. They should have put an * and write "varies with state")

And for the interest capitalization, it's the same policy for both Discover and National City.

So if you go to school in Pennsylvania, National City would be the best deal for you.
I won't be doing that tho, so I am going to go with Discover.

 

[FenixTx]

s

 

[rgerwin]

I don't think that rep knew what they were talking about. You will get what you are certified for.

 

[_T_]

Discover looks great but my only question is this.. the Discover website says loan limits are Subsidized = $8,500 and Unsubsidized = $20,500 minus any subsidized Stafford loan amount. My award letter says that I'm approved for 32,000 in Unsubsidized loans..so how exactly does that work since Discover's loan limit appears to only be $20,500 minus the subsidized?

 

[lucky lady]

Discover looks great but my only question is this.. the Discover website says loan limits are Subsidized = $8,500 and Unsubsidized = $20,500 minus any subsidized Stafford loan amount. My award letter says that I'm approved for 32,000 in Unsubsidized loans..so how exactly does that work since Discover's loan limit appears to only be $20,500 minus the subsidized?

That Number is just for reg. grad Medical school is much more (158,000???) ha ha I ask that same question when I talked to them on the phone. I went with Discover too

 

[FenixTx]

f

 

[rgerwin]

well, and correct me if I'm wrong, discover and other lenders are actually lending you money from the government, not themselves, so they can't have a variety of interest capitalizations. Does that sounds right? bviously, private is another story. They can do whatever they want.