Chase Student Loans Review

I just recently took out a Chase loan this year to cover tuition costs and Chase came highly recommended to me from my school. However, schools are mostly biased. So, here I will share the positive and negative aspects of student loans through Chase to help you make your own loan decisions.

The Application Process

The application process was a little bit of a run-around. It wasn't too difficult, but it was much more intense than other loans that I'd applied for. You need a cosigner if you have no or bad credit (I used my grandfather) and you need copies of both yours and your cosigner's drivers licenses and social security cards. You also need a photocopy of proof of your attendance via a copy of the tuition bill the school sends you. I'd never had to do that with a loan before. There's also quite a few pages to fill out, which is fairly normal with loans, and a lot of information needs to be given.

All in all, though, the process is more or less simple. The forms can be printed directly online and you can just sign and mail in the documents.

Payment Options

Chase student loans offer three payment options for optimal convenience. The first is to defer payment until 6 months after graduation to begin to pay back both the interest and the principal. The second option is to start paying back the interest immediately, but defer payment on the principal. The third option is to start to pay back both the interest and the principal immediately.

Pros:

- The Chase student loan is made out directly to the student, which is convenient because rather than going to the school, the student is able to use it for what is needed, which meant that I could order my books on Amazon and save about $200 rather than using the loan in the school book store.

- The loan is rather prompt in arriving. Once I'd sent my papers in, it didn't take too long to actually get the check.

- If you have any questions about the loan, it's relatively easy to get in touch with a representative and ask any questions you have about it, which I ended up having to do once I actually received the check.

Cons:

- The current interest rate is between 14% and 15% and it isn't a fixed rate, meaning it can increase at any point while you have the loan out.

- The automatic payback time is 20 years, so when you receive the total amount due statement along with the check, don't freak out like I did. I took out a loan for $3,000 and the amount due to pay back said $9,400 and I was NOT about to pay three times the loan. I called, however, and realized that the default repayment period was 20 years, so the interest really kills you in that amount, so be careful about that. If they recommend paying $40 (as they do in mine), pay more as long as you can (I try to pay at least $100 a month).

Overall

All in all, my experience with Chase is pretty good. I'm currently working on paying back the loans (I chose the third option and am paying it back immediately) and the statements arrive in a timely manner and they're easy to understand and send in.