Discover is one of the top financial services in America that offers saving accounts, home equity loans, personal loans, student loans, and credit cards. Discover student loans are issued to graduate and undergraduate who are in need to money to complete their college or degree program. Discover offers private student loans for graduates, MBA, Health profession, law, Bar exam, residency, parent and consolidation loans.
Discover student loan is available for students with at least 3.0 GPA (or equivalent) and they may qualify for one-time cash reward of 1% of the loan amount on each new Discover undergraduate and graduate student loan. However, this reward redemption is limited and also has limited repayment terms. Plus, the loan comes with a fixed interest rate and it is set at the time of application and does not change during the life of the loan unless you are no longer eligible for one or more discounts.
Discover student loans have both varying fixed and variable rates and the APR also varies and sometimes appears higher depending on the type of loan you are applying for. However, you can apply for Student loans at Discover using a Co-signer. This will help you lower your interest rate and grant you chances of getting approval for your loan and offers you low APR which include getting you an interest-only repayment discounts and Auto Debit Reward. Let’s quickly dive into some of the benefits of applying for the Discover student loan.
Benefits of Discover Student Loans
- The loans offer you with a reward for good grades. This means Discover will give you cash reward you if you perform well academically.
- When you enroll autopay mode of payment, you stand the chance to get 0.25% interest rate deduction when
- The loan is zero fees, which means no origination fees, no application fees, or late fees.
- You can get up to 100% of school-certified college costs covered by Discover.
- Borrowers get offer to use a free search tool to find scholarship
- The application is easy and fast
- You can customize your loan rate and repayment options
Types of Discover Student Loans
Undergraduate Student loans
This student loan has a variable rate that ranges between 1.79% – 11.24% and a fixed rate that ranges between 4.49% -13.34%. You can get a loan amount of $1,000 for each loan which can be up to 100% of the school-certified cost of attendance which include tuition, housing, books and more minus financial aid. Students who want to borrow undergraduate loans are encouraged to apply for free financial aid like grants and scholarship and many more. To apply for this, you have to have the following;
- Must be enrolled at least half-time in a degree program at an eligible school.
- Must be seeking a degree.
- Must be making satisfactory academic progress as defined by your school.
- Must be a US citizen, permanent resident or international student (International students require a cosigner who is a US Citizen or permanent resident).
- Must be a 16 years or older at the time you apply.
- Pass a credit check.
Graduate Student loans
Graduate student loan has a variable rate that ranges between 2.49% – 12.49% and a fixed rate that ranges between 4.49% -13.39%. This loan is available for those applying for master’s or doctorate degree. Graduate can borrow up to a loan amount of $1,000 for each loan which can be up to 100% of the school-certified cost of attendance which include tuition, housing, books and more minus financial aid. To apply for Discover Graduate student loans, follow the steps below;
- Must be a US citizen, permanent resident or international student (International students require a cosigner who is a US Citizen or permanent resident).
- Must be a 16 years or older at the time you apply.
- Must be enrolled at least half-time in a degree program at an eligible school.
- Must be seeking a degree.
- Must be making satisfactory academic progress as defined by your school.
- Pass a credit check.
Health Professions loan
The variable rates and fixed rates for Health Professions loan ranges between 2.49% – 6.99% APR and 4.49 – 8.74% respectively with a loan amount of $1,000. The loan is available for graduate students in allopathy, dentistry, physician assistant, podiatry, nursing, optometry, osteopathy, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, or veterinary medicine. To apply for this loan, you need to have the following;
- Must be enrolled at least half-time in a health professions graduate program at an eligible school.
- Must be a US citizen, permanent resident, or international student (International students require a cosigner who is a US Citizen or permanent resident).
- Must be 16 years or older at the time you apply.
- Must be making satisfactory academic progress as defined by your school.
- Pass a credit check.
- Must be seeking a degree.
MBA Student Loans
MBA student loans offers you variable rate which ranges between 2.74% – 9.34% APR and fixed rates of 4.49% -10.99% APR. This type of discover MBA student loan cover up to 100% of your school-certified business school expenses. To become eligible for MBA loan, you must meet the following requirements;
- Must be enrolled at least half-time in a graduate program at an eligible business school.
- Must be making satisfactory academic progress as defined by your school.
- Pass a credit check.
- Must be seeking a degree.
- Must be a US citizen, permanent resident or international student (International students require a cosigner who is a US Citizen or permanent resident).
- Must be a 16 years or older at the time you apply.
Law School Loans
This type of discover student loans offers law student with a variable rates of 2.49% to 11.24 % APR and a fixed rates of 4.49% to 13.34% APR and a loan amount of up $1,000.
- Must be enrolled at least half-time in a graduate program at an eligible Law school.
- Must be a US citizen, permanent resident or international student (International students require a cosigner who is a US Citizen or permanent resident).
- Must be seeking a degree.
- Must be a 16 years or older at the time you apply.
- Must be making satisfactory academic progress as defined by your school.
- Pass a credit check.
Residency Loans
This type of Discover loans offers student loans for post-graduate to cover their medical residency and internship expenses. This comes with variable rates and fixed rates of 3.49% to 5.99% and 4.99% to 7.99% respectively. This loan covers the cost of your residency, internship, board exam review and relocation. You can borrow up to $5,000 for nursing, Occupational Therapy, and physician assistant and also borrow up to $18,000 for Allopathy, Dentistry, Optometry, Pharmacy, Podiatry, and Veterinary medicine. To apply for residency loan, you must have the following;
- Must have graduated from medical school within the past 12 months, or be enrolled in your final year of study in a graduate health professions program
- Must be a US citizen, permanent resident or international student (International students require a cosigner who is a US Citizen or permanent resident).
- Must be a 16 years or older at the time you apply.
- Pass a credit check.
Bar Exam Loans
This student loan is issued to law student to help them pay for their bar exam preparation after law school. This loan comes with variable rates of 4.49% to 11.49% APR and fixed rates with 5.99% to 12.99% APR with a loan amount of up to $1,000 minimum and up to $16,000 maximum. To apply for this loan type, you must have the following;
- Must have graduated from law school within the past 6 months, or be enrolled in your final year of study in a graduate law degree program
- Must be a US citizen, permanent resident or international student (International students require a cosigner who is a US Citizen or permanent resident).
- Must be a 16 years or older at the time you apply.
- Pass a credit check.
Does Discover Offer Deferment for Student Loans
If you may qualify for deferment if you are in a school at least half-time, on military duty, serving a public organization, or in a medical residency. A deferment period is a period of time when you as a borrower are not required to make payments. During this deferment period, your interest will continue to accrue and at the end of your deferment period, any unpaid interest will be added to your principal balance. In other words, this may increase the amount of your monthly payments and the total cost of your loan.
What is the Repayment Period for Discover Student Loans?
The repayment period for your loan is 20 years after your deferment period ends. This repayment period is the duration of time which you are required to make your scheduled payments to repay your principal balance and interest of the loan.
What Repayment Options Does Discover Offer?
There are three available repayment options you can get for your Discover student loans.
- In-school interest-only: while you are in school and during your grace period (six-months), you are required to make interest-only monthly payments to lower your overall loan cost and receive a 0.35% interest rate discount.
- In-school Fixed: while you in school and during your grace period, you are required to make $25 fixed.
- Deferred: Monthly payments are not required until 9 months after you graduate or your enrollment drops below half-time.
Discover Student Loan Discounts
Discover offers you auto debit rewards of 0.25% deduction interest rate when you sign up for Autopay. Plus, you also qualify for 0.35% discount if you make interest-only payment while you are in school.
Discover Student Loan Rewards
Student borrowers may be eligible for two types of rewards. They include;
- Good Grades Rewards: this is available for borrower with at least of 3.0 GPA (or its equivalent). This award is 1% of the loan amount, so if you have a $5,000 student loan, you will get a $50 reward.
- Graduation: This awards 2% of your outstanding loan balance to you and it is for graduate who graduated less than 6 years after their loan’s disbursement. So if your loan balance is $5,000, you get $100.
What If I am Unable to make my Monthly Payments?
If you are unable to pay for your monthly student loan payment as a result of the financial difficulties, kindly contact Discover Student loans Repayment Assistance Department at 1-800-STUDENT (tel:+18007883368).
Can I Get a Discover Student Loan Refinanced?
Discover provides student loan refinancing for both federal and private student loans. Borrowers can refinance between $5,000 up to the total amount of your loan. The repayment terms of the refinance ranges between 10 t o20 years and are fixed and variable rates loans.
What Do I Need for my Discover Student Loan Application?
To apply for your Discover Student loans, you need the following requirements;
- Your Social Security number
- Loan amount requested
- Expected financial aid
- Permanent address and in-school address (if applicable)
- Selected school information which includes field of study
- Financial information which includes rent or mortgage payments and income
How to Apply for Discover Student Loans
To apply for a Discover student loan, it is important you have taken advantages of all federal student loans by submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. And if you are still in need of more money, kindly apply for Discover student loan by following the steps below. Keep in mind that you will be required to provide some information about you.
- Go to www.discover.com/student-loans/ in the web browser of your device.
- Scroll down and choose your state, enter your school name and select the type of loan you want
- Then, click on “Get started” to start an application.
- You can alternatively make use of the options under the get started button – “retrieve your application” if you have started or yet to complete or even of you are about starting or “Cosign an application” if you are applying with a cosigner.
- If you are applying newly, click on “retrieve your application”.
- On the next page, if you want to continue your application, click on “existing application” but if you want to start an application, click on “New application”.
- Next, choose if you are a “student” or “cosigner”.
- Choose between “Yes” or “No” to show if you are a returning Student loans customer
- Then, click on the “Get started” button
- On the prefill application page, scroll down and click on “no thanks, I’ll fill out manually”.
- On the next page, you have three stages to provide your information – school and student details, degree and loan details and terms and disclosures.
- Next, enter your school state, school name and choose the loan type
- The next step is to enter your first name, middle name, last name, suffix, email address, your U.S. phone number and date of birth.
- Next, choose your citizenship status either U.S. citizen or permanent resident or international student.
- Now, click on “continue”.
- On the next page, follow the prompt and accept Discover terms and conditions.
Now, Discover bank will review your information and notify you if your loan is approved or not.
How to Contact Discover Student Loan Customer Service
If you are having any issue regarding your student loan, you can speak with a Discover student loan consultant by calling at 1-800-788-338. You can call on fax at 1-224-813-5195.