Funding University Review

Key points:

• Funding University offers private student loans to undergraduate students.
• The lender does not allow loan cosigners.
• Borrowers get their own, dedicated loan officer.
• Funding U’s private student loan earned a LendEDU rating of 4.28 / 5.00.

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at Funding University’s secure website

Editorial Rating

3.12

Editorial Rating

What we like:

Personal customer service

Fixed APR	7.99% – 14.49% APR w/ AutoPay
Variable APR	N/A
Loan Terms	10 years
Loan Amounts	Loans up to $10k per school year

See how Funding University’s private student loan product stacks up with other options

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Funding University is a private student loan company focused on offering student loans without a cosigner to career-driven undergrads.

Unlike most private student loan lenders, Funding U doesn’t allow for cosigners, and because of that, it has unique eligibility criteria. Funding U is a good option for students without cosigners who wouldn’t qualify for a traditional private student loan on their own.

This Funding University review will tell you everything you need to know to decide if Funding U is right for you.

In this review:

• What loans does Funding U offer?
• Pros & cons of a Funding U student loan
• Funding U eligibility & application requirements
• Where to find Funding U alternatives

What loans does Funding U offfer?

Funding U offers only one loan—a private student loan for undergraduate students. The biggest selling point of Funding University’s student loan is that they don’t require a cosigner like many other lenders.

Since most undergraduate students do not have a credit history or the income required to qualify for traditional private student loans on their own, this is a unique and attractive benefit.

Not only does this help students but it also could benefit parents too. By cosigning on their children’s student loans, parents often put their own credit scores and financial wellbeing at risk.

With Funding U, parents are off the hook if their child defaults on a loan, and their debt-to-income ratios stay in-tact while the student repays the loan.

How does loan repayment work?

Funding U requires $20 payments to be made each month while students are in school. The lender wants students to establish good monthly payment habits, keep their loan balance down, and build up their credit history.

Full repayment starts six months after graduation (November for most students). Funding U works directly with students after graduation to help them transition into repayment on both their Funding U and other federal and private student loans.

One difference with Funding University loans is that they require borrowers to provide an update each semester on their academic, employment, and career prospects.

Pros & cons of a Funding U student loan

Funding U eligibility & application requirements

Rather than looking at your credit score or income, Funding University determines your eligibility and how much you can borrow by looking at things that show whether you are on track towards your professional and academic goals.

Some of these may include class hours completed, graduation date, academic record, major, employment or internship experience, and any other academic or extracurricular activities that show that you’re making progress.

Two specific factors Funding U uses is the applicant’s GPA and their school’s graduation rate. Here are the requirements:

You will also have to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident that is at least 18 years old attending a Title IV-eligible four year college. For-profit schools are not eligible.

If you prequalify for a loan with Funding U, they will do a credit check just to make sure that you don’t have any delinquencies on other loans.

Funding U covers 30 states, accounting for 90% of the U.S. population. Students who aren’t eligible will be added to Funding U’s waitlist and will be notified as soon as loans become available in their state.

Eligible states:

How does the application process work?

To apply for a loan from Funding University, you will have to fill out some preliminary information online such as your GPA, SAT/ACT score, monthly income, and major in order to see if you prequalify.

This is different from most student loan applications which often require you to submit a significant amount of financial information, including your credit score.

You can see if you may be eligible for a Funding U student loan with our free application here.

Prequalified students move on next to the loan application which takes 5-10 minutes. You need three items to complete your loan application:

1. Academic Transcript
2. Financial Aid Award Letter
3. Résumé

Most students who are pre-approved for a loan will have a 10-minute phone consultation with one of Funding University’s loan advisers prior to loan closing.

Because Funding U is focused on making sure its terms are transparent and that its borrowers understand their loans, your representative will talk you through the prospected loan terms and interest rate and explain the next steps.

Where to find Funding U alternatives

While there are a lot of benefits to getting a student loan without a cosigner, if you get a traditional private student loan that is cosigned by your parents, you’ll likely qualify for a lower interest rate. This will make repayment more manageable and will save you money longterm.

It’s also a good idea to compare quotes from several lenders before choosing one. This makes sure you find the rates and repayment terms that work best for your situation.

To find other lenders, including those that accept cosigners, check out our list of the best private student loans. If you don’t have a cosigner, you can check out our student loans without cosigners page or our bad credit student loans page.