Student Loan Information
Financing a Franklin & Marshall Education
Financing Options
There is no right or wrong way when it comes to financing your education and each family’s situation is unique. We invite you to read over the options below and keep in mind that you may use any combination of these options. When considering loans to finance your education you should always exhaust all federal loan options before considering a private student loan.
Federal Stafford Loan All students regardless of need are eligible to borrow the federal Stafford loan. F&M recommends maximizing your Stafford loan before you consider other loan options. Stafford loan offers low fixed interest rates , the best repayment terms as well as defined terms of deferment and forbearance. For more information, please click here.
Tuition Management Services (TMS) provides a convenient 10-month payment option as an alternative to lump sum semester payments. For more information, please contact TMS at 1-800-722-4867 or visit their website at www.afford.com/fandm If you have questions about the TMS process please contact the F&M Business Office at (717) 291-4213
Federal PLUS loan is a federal loan program for parents borrowing to finance their dependent undergraduate student’s education. PLUS loan offers low fixed interest rates and lenders now offer a delayed repayment option. A parent can borrow up to the total cost of education minus financial aid/loans. For more information, please click here.
Private Student Loans also known as Alternative loans, should always be your last consideration for financing your education. The interest rates are variable rates adjusted quarterly with no cap. Recently private loans have become more difficult to obtain and in most cases students will require a creditworthy cosigner. For more information click here.
Lender Selection
Students and parents will occasionally ask for our help in selecting a student lender from our recommended list of lenders. Please know that you are not obligated to select a student loan lender from our list of recommended lenders. Lenders become recommended by Franklin & Marshall based upon their service history with our Franklin & Marshall families.
There are many lending and loan servicing agencies in the student loan industry. We provide this list as an additional service to families so that you are aware of those agencies that have serviced our families well and to a greater extent met our and our families' levels of expectation. And while each lender will offer money saving benefits and incentives, we encourage you to research all the options to meet your needs. No employee of Franklin & Marshall College receives any compensation from any lender agency, whether the lender appears on our recommended list or not.
For more information, call or visit the Elm Select Web site or contact or email the Financial Aid Office (717) 291-3991 financialaid@fandm.edu
