Loan Eligibility

You had to fulfill the next requirements to qualify for a personal student loan from SunTrust:

• It’s essential to have been enrolled a minimum of half-time at an eligible school.
• It’s essential to have been a U.S. citizen or a everlasting resident with a Social Security number.
• International students could qualify in the event that they had a cosigner who was a U.S. citizen or a everlasting resident and in the event that they applied for a Union Federal Student Loan.
• It’s essential to have reached the age of majority in your state otherwise you were a minimum of 17 years old in the event you were applying with a cosigner who met the age-of-majority requirement.
• Either the cosigner or the coed will need to have had an income source.
• You and your cosigner, if applicable, would undergo a tough credit inquiry.
• Applicants couldn’t be everlasting residents of Iowa or Wisconsin.

Was Loan Prequalification Available? 

SunTrust didn’t offer a prequalification tool. You had to finish the applying and undergo a tough credit inquiry that might temporarily affect your credit rating to seek out out in the event you qualified for a loan.

Loan Fees

SunTrust didn’t charge application or origination fees, and there have been no prepayment penalties in the event you decided to repay your loan ahead of schedule. But SunTrust did charge a late fee in the event you missed your payment due date. 

Loan Discounts 

SunTrust offered two discounts to all loan borrowers: 

• Automatic payment discount: You would reduce your rate of interest by 0.25% once you signed up for automatic payments.
• SunTrust payment discount: You would have qualified for a further 0.25% reduction in the event you made automatic payments from a SunTrust checking account.

The Union Federal Private Student Loan was also eligible for an on-time payment discount. You’d lower your rate of interest by one other 0.25% in the event you made all of your payments on time for 36 months. You would lower your rate by 0.75% in the event you took advantage of all three discounts.

Repayment Options

The repayment options available were depending on what kind of loan you had. Custom Alternative, Union Federal, and Graduate Business loans provided 4 repayment options: 

• In-school deferment: Your loan payments were deferred until after you graduated or left school. 
• Immediate repayment: You would begin making payments right after the loan was disbursed. 
• Partial interest: You would pay $25 per 30 days when you were at school. 
• Interest only: You made payments only toward the interest in your loans when you were at school.

Rewards

Some SunTrust loans offered special rewards:

• Principal reduction: Your loan principal can be reduced once you graduated with Custom Alternative and Graduate Business School loans. The principal was reduced by 2% on Custom Alternative loans. It was reduced by 1% with Graduate Business School loans
• 0% APR: You’ll get a 0% APR on the primary six months after your loan was disbursed with the Start Student Loan. No interest accrued in your loan during this era. 

Were Co-Signers Required? 

SunTrust didn’t require that borrowers have a co-signer once they applied but they could not have been approved for a loan on their very own in the event that they didn’t meet the income or credit requirements. You’ll increase your possibilities of qualifying for a loan and securing a competitive rate of interest by adding a co-signer to your application. You would apply for a co-signer release after making 36 to 48 monthly payments on time depending on the kind of loan you had.

Forbearance and Loan Discharge Options

SunTrust encourages borrowers who experience financial hardships to call American Education Services, its loan servicer, to debate repayment options. It’s possible you’ll be eligible for another payment plan in the event you still have an lively loan with SunTrust. You’ll only should make payments on the interest in your loan for 12 to 24 months. It’s possible you’ll even be eligible for a brief deferment that lets you postpone payments altogether. You’ll be able to call the loan servicer at 800-233-0557. 

SunTrust will forgive the remaining balance of the loan if the coed borrower dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled.

Is Student Loan Refinancing Available? 

SunTrust offers only in-school refinancing for existing private student loans. You are not eligible for refinancing through SunTrust if you will have federal student loans or have already graduated. Take a look at our greatest student loan refinanncing firms in the event you’d prefer to refinance your loans.

Customer Service

SunTrust’s student loans are serviced by American Education Services (AES). Unfortunately, many borrowers have had issues with AES.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Private Education Loan Ombudsman listed the variety of complaints it received about private lenders in its 2019 Annual Report. It received 2,900 complaints about private student loan lenders from Sept. 1, 2018 to Aug. 31, 2019. Of those, 180 or about 7% were about AES.

You’ll be able to reach customer support by phone. The number it’s best to call depends on the kind of loan you will have: 

• For Custom Alternative and Graduate Business School loans: 866-232-3889
• For the Start Student Loan: 877-808-4852
• For the Union Federal Private Student Loan: 866-513-8445

Final Verdict

SunTrust was previously a wonderful selection for people in search of supplemental loans for his or her education, however the lender has ended its loan program. It’s now not an option for personal student loans. You’ll have to seek out one other lender.

Methodology

Investopedia is devoted to providing consumers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of student loan lenders. We collected over 45 data points across greater than 15 lenders, including rates of interest, fees, loan amounts, and repayment terms, to make sure that our content helps users make the proper borrowing decision for his or her education needs.