Smart Option Student Loan® for Career Training
Prepare for your career with confidence
Get the money and tools you need to succeed on your professional journey.
For professional training and trade certificate courses.
Leveling up your professional skills?
You’re covered.
With a Smart Option Student Loan® for Career Training, you can apply just once and get the money you need to pay fo a full year of professional training or trade school costs. Cover everything from tuition to books to travel—even equipment, supplies, and tools for your courses.footnote 2
There’s no origination fee or prepayment penalty,footnote 3 and you can repay the way that works best for you.
Questions about applying for a career training loan?
Find the type of interest rate that’s best for you
Your interest rate is the amount you’re charged for borrowing money. It’s based on factors like your borrowing/repayment history, how long you’ve had credit, and your amount of debt.
With a Smart Option Student Loan, you can choose an interest rate type that’s variable or fixed.
Lowest rates shown include the auto debit discount.
How it works
Your interest rate may go up or down as the loan’s index changes.
For more information about the index of your loan, refer to your promissory note. Changes in the financial markets may cause the index to rise or fall.
This might be right for you if
You’re ok with more uncertainty in exchange for a potentially lower total loan cost than with a fixed rate.
Keep in mind
Your payments may vary over time. If you’re looking for a predictable monthly payment, a variable rate might not be for you.
Lowest rates shown include the auto debit discount.
How it works
Your interest rate may go up or down as the loan’s index changes.
For more information about the index of your loan, refer to your promissory note. Changes in the financial markets may cause the index to rise or fall.
This might be right for you if
You’re ok with more uncertainty in exchange for a potentially lower total loan cost than with a fixed rate.
Keep in mind
Your payments may vary over time. If you’re looking for a predictable monthly payment, a variable rate might not be for you.
Lowest rates shown include the auto debit discount.
How it works
Your interest rate does not change over time.
This might be right for you if
You want a predictable monthly payment to make budgeting easier.
Keep in mind
You may pay more for your loan because a fixed rate may be higher than a starting variable interest rate.
Lowest rates shown include the auto debit discount.
How it works
Your interest rate does not change over time.
This might be right for you if
You want a predictable monthly payment to make budgeting easier.
Keep in mind
You may pay more for your loan because a fixed rate may be higher than a starting variable interest rate.
What are your repayment options?
You can start paying back your loan while you’re in school to save money or wait until you’re finished. You can also choose to pay off your loan early to reduce the total loan cost—there are no penalties for early repayment.footnote 3
How the interest repayment option works:
You pay your monthly interest while in school and during your 6-month grace period to lower your loan cost.footnote 1
Your grace period is the amount of time after you’re no longer enrolled in school and before principal and interest payments begin.
This may be right for you if
You want to reduce your interest rate as much as possible and can afford to pay more each month.
Keep in mind
Your career training student loan payments will likely be larger while you’re in school and in your grace period than with our fixed or deferred options.
How the fixed repayment option works:
You pay $25 a monthfootnote 4 while in school and during your 6-month grace period to lower your loan cost.footnote 1
Your grace period is the amount of time after you’re no longer enrolled in school and before principal and interest payments begin.
This may be right for you if
You want to reduce your total loan cost and can afford to pay $25footnote 4 every month.
Keep in mind
Your interest rate will be less than with our deferred option, but the unpaid interest will be added to your principal amount at the end of your grace period.
How the deferred repayment option works:
You don’t make your first payment until both your time at school and 6-month grace period have ended.footnote 1
Your grace period is the amount of time after you’re no longer enrolled in school and before principal and interest payments begin.
This may be right for you if
You want to have as much money available to you while you’re in school.
Keep in mind
You’re likely to pay more for the total cost of the loan compared to the other repayment options and the unpaid interest will be added to your principal amount at the end of your grace period.
How a cosigner can help
you get the money you need for school
Since most students have little or no credit history, they were nearly 4X more likely to be approved with a cosigner last year!footnote 5 A cosigner is usually a parent, relative, or other responsible adult, and it may help you get a better interest rate.
It’s easy, just follow these steps:
We’ll need some basic information from you (and your cosigner if you’re applying with one) like your name, address, and date of birth, along with some details about your school.
After you’re approved, pick the repayment option and interest rate type that work best for your budget.
Be sure to review all loan documents so you understand your responsibilities. Once you’ve decided to borrow from us, just e-sign, accept loan terms, and provide any other requested information. We'll work with your school to take care of the rest. That's it!
FAQs on student loans
Private student loans are credit-based, which means we will check your credit when you submit your application. Last year, students were nearly 4X more likely to be approved with a cosigner.footnote 5 A cosigner is an adult with good credit, usually a parent, who shares responsibility with you for paying back the loan.
You can apply just once a year with a single credit check and funds are sent for each term directly to your school. You can cancel future disbursements as needed with no penalty. No interest is charged until money is sent to your school, so you can relax, knowing you've got the funds when you need them.
It takes about 10 minutes to apply and get a credit decision. After you’re approved, you choose your loan rate type and repayment options, accept your loan disclosure, e-sign and provide any other requested information, and the loan is certified by your school. We send (disburse) the funds directly to the school. The process takes 10 business days or less from application to disbursement.
Whether you study online or on campus, you can borrow to cover the costs at a participating institution, even if you're not a full- or half-time student. The loan's flexibility makes it a good choice for many situations:
With the Smart Option Student Loan, you can select from three repayment options. While in school, you can choose to make monthly interest payments or fixed $25 payments,footnote 4—or you can choose to defer payments until after school.footnote 1 The repayment option you choose applies during school and for six months after you leave school (your grace period). After that, you begin to make principal and interest payments.
When you apply, we look at your history of borrowing money and paying it back on time. Lenders want to know how responsible you are with credit before approving your student loan application.
Many college-bound high school students haven’t had time to build up their own credit. That’s why they apply with a cosigner, a creditworthy adult who shares the responsibility of the student loan.
You and your cosigner will want to have your school information, amount needed (remember, you can use it to pay for school-certified expenses for the entire year) as well as your cosigner’s financial and employment information. Providing your social security number is optional. You or your cosigner may start the application, however, should your cosigner not be with you, we can send along an email with a link to their section of the application so they can fill it in later.
Need assistance? We’re here to help.
Learn about the different student loans we offer.
