Choosing a PLUS Loan Lender

When making any major financial decision, we recommend doing all of your homework so that you understand all of your options and responsibilities and make an informed decision that is best for you and your family.

There are many different providers of PLUS loans, but not all lenders are the same. Before entering into an agreement with a lender, we recommend you do some window shopping to ensure you are getting the best deal.

Below we have given you some questions you should consider before choosing a lender. We believe that the Georgia Student Finance Authority offers the best products and services to the parents and students of the State of Georgia and we would be pleased to be your lender of choice. The red text below gives you some of the compelling reasons for making GSFA your lender of choice.

1. What type of fees do lenders charge on student loans?

Standard charges are a 1% federal default fee and a 3% origination fee. That is 4% of the amount you borrow that you never see! Some lenders may pay the federal default fee on your behalf, and some may rebate the origination fee. That can lead to significant savings.

GSFA pays the federal default fee for all PLUS borrowers.

2. What type of benefits will the lender offer for prompt payment?

Some lenders offer a .25% reduction for automatic electronic payments and a 2% reduction after 48 months of on-time payments.

GSFC offers a .50% interest rate reduction for making payments using auto-debit.

3. Who services your loan?

Does your lender contract out servicing (keeping up with your changes of address, your loan status, sending you bills, receiving your payments, processing your deferment requests, answering questions, etc.) to a third-party contractor, or does it service the loans itself? If your loans are serviced by multiple contractors in several states, confusion and potential errors may result.

GSFA services a portion of our loans from the time the loans are made until the time they are paid in full. Some of our loans are sold to a third-party servicer with an exceptional record which allows us to continue to fund our loan program.

4. Is borrowing from one lender preferable?

You should generally borrow from the same lender for all your student loans to keep your loans in one location and for consistent information and service.

When you compare GSFA with other PLUS loan lenders, we feel confident you'll find the benefits available to you, the in-state location, and the sole loan focus on education loans clearly make GSFA your best choice for both savings and service.

If you agree that a loan from GSFA is the choice for you, let your school know that you prefer to borrow from Lender Code 822573. Then follow the directions from your school on how to complete the loan process.