Alaska Student Loans

Student Loans in Alaska

The primary resource for Alaska Student Loans is the Alaska Commission on Post Secondary Education (ACPE) that was established by the  Alaska Student Loan Corporation. This is the starting place for student loans within the state.

The following loans are available through the ACPE.

AlaskAdvantage Loan

This is a supplemental loan that is designed to assist a student when their federal or gift aid is not adequate to fully fund the student’s cost of attendance. This loan program is specifically for students attending vocational, technical,or state certified career schools.

Alaska Supplemental Education Loan

This loan is for expenses related to postsecondary education for all students that are attending schools within Alaska and for qualified residents of Alaska that are attending schools outside of the state.

This loan has a 5% origination fee and while the base loan rate is fixed, the rate on borrower benefits adjustments vary year to year as approved and if funding is available for discounts.

Loan limits vary by postsecondary educational program.

Alternative Consolidation Loan

This program allows all borrowers to combine all of their ACPE funded loans into one single loan. This option may or may not bring savings to the borrower, in some cases original loans have lower interest rates than the consolidation loan. The current rate for an Alternative Consolidation Loan is 7.5% with an APR of 7.5%, no origination fee, a 0.25% rate discount for automatic payment, leaving the lowest available rate 7.25%.

To qualify for the Alternative Consolidation Loan a student must have more than $3,500 in ACPE outstanding loans, a FICO credit score of 680 or greater, a perfect payment history for the previous 18 months, be a United States citizen or permanent resident alien, place all outstanding loans owed to the ACPER into the consolidation loan, and not be more than 29 days late on any other loans.

Students can apply online through the ACPE website.

Career Specific Loans

These loans are made available to encourage individuals to choose careers within Alaska that are critical to the State and at the same time experiencing a shortage of qualified professional applicants. These loans are the same as all loans, the amount is due and payable according to the payment schedule  on completion of the funded educational program but these loans do have specific forgiveness clauses that can be used by those that want to pursue eligible careers within the State.

Teacher Education Loan

This loan is available for high school graduates from rural schools within the State that have been nominated by their schools to enter into a career path where they will teach in an Alaska elementary or secondary school. If the student follows through and becomes a teacher in a qualifying rural Alaska area, they may be eligible for 100% loan forgiveness.

This loan has a 5% origination fee with a base fixed rate of 7.50% and a 7.66% APR and a 0.25% automatic payment reduction that makes the lowest possible rate for the term 7.25%. The maximum yearly allowable loan is $7,500 with a combined total for all loans $37,500.

 Professional Student Exchange (PSE) Loan

This loan is in cooperation with other states and students that are participants in the Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP). This program allows Alaska students to pay in-state tuition in other states with the PSEP program charging Alaska the difference between the in-state tuition and out of state tuition.

This program is made available to qualified Alaska residents that are pursuing professional careers in dentistry, optometry, occupational therapy, podiatry, pharmacy, physical therapy, or as a physician assistant.

This loan carries a fixed rate 4.80% rate while the student is in a qualified educational program and the rate moves to 7.5% on completion of that program. There is a possible 0.50% reduction if the borrower is living in Alaska during repayment and another 0.25% for automatic payment enrollment, this leaves the lowest possible rate during repayment at 6.75%.

Students must contact complete the eligibility certification process prior to October 15 of the year that proceeds their proposed admission date at the target school.

A.W. “Winn” Brindle Memorial Educational Loan

This loan program is funded by private donations and contributions from fisheries that are given for tax credits. The loan is specified for individuals that are pursuing fisheries related coursework and students are eligible for up to 50% of forgiveness if they choose and work in a qualifying fisheries related career.

The loan does not have an origination fee and has a fixed rate of 5% with a 0.25% rate discount for automatic payment enrollment. The lowest possible rate is 4.75%. There are no loan limits with this program. Eligibility is restricted to Alaska residents enrolled as full time students in fisheries related fields.

Alaska WWAMI Loans

These loans are made available through the Alaska WWAMI Biomedical Program in order to encourage and provide Alaska residents with the ability to attend medical schools and pursue medical programs that are not available within the State. This program is in collaboration with several Northwestern states and includes the ability of the student to pay in-state tuition with WWAMI paying the difference between that and out of state tuition for the second through final years of study. This program is eligible for loan forgiveness under certain circumstances. See the WWAMI website for additional details.

Federal Loan Programs

All of the above programs are designed as seprate from or as a supplement to available Federal direct loan programs. As of June 30, 2010 organizations, states, non profits, and private lenders are no longer making federal loans.

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