Lenders
When completing your master promissory note for a Federal Stafford or PLUS Loan, you will identify a lender who works with the guaranty agency and the school to provide the loan funds for a student's education.
GUARANTY AGENCIES & SERVICERS
The federal educational loan programs are administered via guaranty agencies who work on behalf of the Department of Education. Ohio's designated guarantor is Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation.
The University of Cincinnati has set up electronic certification of loans with Great Lakes. Therefore, paperwork with Great Lakes can be efficiently administered in an electronic means. Because many lenders also use Great Lakes to service the loan, your loan funds can arrive electronically at UC and be applied to your bill each term without delays caused by paper loan checks.
CHOOSING A LENDER
Students and parents choose lenders based on a variety of issues: familiarity such as using their banking institution, borrower benefits offered on the federal loan programs, past experience in loan borrowing or ease of processing. As a borrower, you can choose any lender you wish.
To assist borrowers who do not have a lender in mind, we offer the links below. The FASTChoice sites provide general information on educational loans (after a simple log in using first and last name) and can help you review, compare and select from a listing of lenders used by UC loan borrowers this past academic year.
You may wish to use a credit union as your lender. Because the use of a credit union requires membership, these lenders used by UC loan borrowers last year are listed separately below.
- Credit Union Lenders (membership required)
Loan borrowers wishing to use a lender that is not listed in FASTChoice can work with their lender to get loan information and the lender code needed for completing the loan promissory note.
BORROWER BENEFITS
Your loan is likely to carry borrower benefits. Some benefits reduce fees at the front end of the loan process and others save on interest accumulation when in repayment.
Whether you choose a lender based on a benefit or use a lender with whom you are familiar, the best advice Student Financial Aid can offer is to know the terms of the benefits for your loan. Work to understand your lender's benefits, particularly when in repayment, in order to maximize the financial return on your loans.
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Do not fill out a Federal Stafford, Graduate PLUS, or Parent PLUS Loan promissory note with an individual lender.
When accepting aid, you will be directed to complete a promissory note. Please indicate lender choice on that online note or on the paper note sent to you following the acceptance of your aid.
Completing the aid process in sequence with UC will help you avoid duplicated efforts.
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