Discover Bank may be a household name for credit cards and personal loans, but they also offer private student loans. You’ll find great rates, flexible loan terms, and some pretty awesome features. Big names sometimes offer big things. Find out more details below.
Discover Student Loans Application Requirements
Discover student loan borrowers are expected to meet the following criteria to qualify:
- At least 16 years old
- Seeking a degree
- Enrolled at least half-time
- Meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements
- Pass credit check
- U.S. citizen or permanent resident
Additionally, you’ll need to provide the following information as part of your student loan application.
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Phone number
- Email address
- Name of college or university
- Expected graduation date
- Expected loan amount
- Household income
- Address
- Social security number
- If a cosigner is needed, then:
- Cosigner’s Social Security number
- Employment information
- Address
- Financial information
Discover does not disclose a minimum credit score or income requirements.
What is Satisfactory Academic Progress?
To receive funds from Discover Student Loans, you must complete all of your coursework and be actively pursuing a degree. Discover hasn’t disclosed its exact SAP standards, but most people don’t need to worry about it. SAP was put in place to discourage people from using student loans for anything other than going to school and pursuing a college degree.
Using a Cosigner for Your Discover Student Loan
Depending on your credit history, you’ll likely have to get a cosigner if you’re just coming out of high school or have yet to develop a strong credit score. A cosigner can be anyone over 18 who is a U.S. citizen with good credit.
Cosigners are usually a borrower’s parent, but it’s not unusual for a cosigner to also be a relative, friend, or spouse. Borrowers can only have one cosigner, so you’ll want to choose a cosigner with good to excellent credit to get the best rate possible.
What does a cosigner do?
A cosigner agrees to take equal financial responsibility for the student loan. If the primary borrower is unable to make a payment, the cosigner is expected to step in and make it. On the flip side, if a payment isn’t made, both the borrower and the cosigner’s credit scores are hurt.
It’s possible to release the cosigner from any obligation if the borrower can make 24 on-time payments. Many borrowers choose to do this so that the student loan will never impact their cosigner’s credit.
Types of Discover Student Loans
Discover Student Loans offers eight types of student loans to help you achieve your education goals. Each comes with the choice of either a fixed interest rate or variable interest rate.
Undergraduate Loans
Discover’s undergraduate student loans will cover up to 100% of the school-certified cost of attendance but can also be used to complement other forms of financial aid you receive. The loan term lasts 15 years after in-school deferment.
APRs depend on the type of interest rate you choose.
Graduate Loans
Are you going for your graduate or doctoral degree? Discover charges zero fees, offers great APRs, and has generous repayment plans to help you hit the ground running once you graduate.
Interest rates for a graduate student loan are comparable to the undergraduate loan and can cover up to 100% of your school-certified college costs.
MBA Loans
Business school can be expensive and challenging to finance, regardless of whether you go straight after college or after you’ve joined the workforce. Luckily, Discover will cover up to 100% of the financing.
Both fixed and variable rates are competitive to keep your monthly payments low after you graduate.
Health Professions
Discover offers private student loans for students looking to study in one of the following health professions:
- Allopathy
- Dentistry
- Nursing
- Occupational Therapy
- Optometry
- Osteopathy
- Pharmacy
- Physical Therapy
- Physician Assistant
- Podiatry
- Veterinary Medicine
The loan term lasts 20 years, while rates are some of the most competitive Discover offers.
Law School
Discover covers 100% of your law school expenses without sneaking in any extra fees. Rates are also competitive, particularly if you opt for a variable rate.
Residency
If you are working through your residency program in medical school, Discover can help you cover the costs of your residency, relocation, internship, and board exam review. So don’t worry about how you’ll pay for it all; just worry about what you need to graduate.
Bar Exam
This niche student loan helps you prepare to take your bar exam after law school. Get ready any way you need to while your Discover student loan covers the cost of your prep classes and living expenses. Rates are just slightly higher than the law student loans.
Discover Student Loan Refinancing
If you want to refinance student loans, you can lump all your private and federal student loans into one loan with a single payment each month. By refinancing your student loans, you may be able to lower your interest rate and monthly payment, as well as eliminate the need for a cosigner. Based on your creditworthiness, your repayment terms on consolidation loans can be either 10 or 20 years.
Discover Student Loans Repayment Options
With a Discover student loan, you’ll have three in-school repayment options before you graduate.
- Deferred: With deferred repayment, you’re not required to make any payments until six months after you graduate, or your enrollment drops below half-time.
- In-school interest-only payments: Pay only interest while you’re in school. This keeps your loan principal from growing and gives you a 0.35% rate discount.
- In-school fixed-rate: Pay only $25 a month while you’re in school and during your grace period that extends for 6 months after graduation. This lowers your total student loan cost.
Of course, you’re also allowed to make full interest and principal payments while still in school. Doing this could put you in a great position to pay off your loans early.
Fees
- No late fees: It is highly unusual for private student loan lenders not to charge late fees when a borrower is delinquent. However, Discover does not charge a late fee when you miss a payment.
- No application fees: Discover won’t charge you any fees for running credit checks when you submit your application.
- No loan origination fees: Lastly, Discover won’t charge you any fees for first putting your loan in place. They view interest rates as the cost of doing business.
- No prepayment fees: Want to pay off your student loan early? Discover won’t charge you extra.
Discover Student Loans Application Process
The application takes as little as 15 minutes to complete and you can do it entirely online. If you have all of your supporting documents before you begin, you’ll be prompted to upload them during the application. If you don’t, you can always go back and upload later without losing any of your progress. Discover will provide you with a unique access code so you can jump in right where you left off.
After all the appropriate information has been received, Discover processes your application. To check on your application’s status, you can always log in. Just provide your access code, last name, date of birth, and the last four digits of your Social Security number.
Discover Student Loans Special Features
Auto Debit Reward: You get a 0.25% interest rate reduction while enrolled in automatic payments. You must make payments from a U.S. bank account.
Cash back rewards for good grades: If you maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher, Discover will reward you with 1% cashback of the total amount you borrowed. You must redeem this reward within six months of the academic term covered by the time the loan has ended.
Cover 100% of college costs: There’s no cap to how much Discover will lend you for your education, just a minimum loan amount of $1,000.
U.S. based loan specialists: Discover allows you to speak with someone in and from the United States about your loan process.
Bottom Line
Discover offers a plethora of private student loan options for prospective and current students, each with competitive interest rates and generous loan terms. Its customer service and perks are top-notch, too, especially the cash reward for academic excellence.