Some states have their own student loan programs. These student loans seem generally meant to act as an alternative to private loans and offer better rates and terms. On the College Scholarships site I found a page on student loans for each state. For each state I looked for a state specific loan program and found the 11 states below. The interest rates may or may not depend on things like credit scores and that kind of thing varies depending on the program. As you can see most of the interest rates are reasonable if not fairly generous.
Here is the list of states with a link to the program and the going rates:
State | program | interest | term |
Alaska | ASEL | 7.30% | fixed |
Connecticut | CHESLA | 5.99% | fixed |
Kentucky | KHESLC | up to 7.59% | fixed |
Massachusetts | MNIL | 0% | fixed |
Massachusetts | MEFA | up to 8.68% | fixed |
Minnesota | SELF | 6.90% | fixed |
Minnesota | SELF | 3.30% | variable |
New Jersey | NJCLASS | 5.49-8.05% | fixed |
North Dakota | DEAL | 5.93% | fixed |
Rhode Island | RISLA | 5.39-7.49% | fixed |
South Carolina | PAL | 6.75%-8.75% | fixed |
Texas | HHLOans | 5.25% | fixed |
Vermont | VSAC | 5.6%-5.9% | fixed |
Of course the terms are subject to change so you'll want to check your state program for the current rate. Some states also have loan and loan forgiveness programs specific to certain fields of study like health care or teaching and I did not list those here.
If you're in one of these states then I'd certainly look into the state student loan program if you need to borrow for college. While the programs aren't necessarily better than the federal Stafford loans they are almost certainly better than private loans.
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