Sallie Mae Bar Study Loan Rates Among Lowest Available from National Private Lenders

After the diplomas are awarded, law school graduates still face the biggest final exam of all: the bar exam. Sallie Mae – the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company – can help reduce at least one factor in the bar exam stress equation, and that’s worrying about how to cover the cost of studying for it.

Sallie Mae’s Bar Study Loan lets law students finance costs not covered by federal student loan programs, including bar review course fees, exam fees, and living expenses incurred while preparing for the exam. The Sallie Mae Bar Study Loan has among the lowest annual percentage rates available from national private education lenders. Rates are variable, and starting rates range from 3.50 percent APR to 10.20 percent APR. In addition, customers who make scheduled monthly payments by automatic debit receive a 0.25 percentage point interest rate reduction.

Students who plan to take the bar exam within 12 months of graduating, who are enrolled at least half time in their final year of study at an American Bar Association-accredited law school, or who have graduated from one within the past 12 months, are eligible to apply for the Bar Study Loan.

In addition to competitive interest rates, Sallie Mae’s Bar Study Loan offers:

• No application, origination, or disbursement fees. In addition, there are no prepayment penalties. Loan funds are sent directly to customers, who also receive free access to their FICO^® Credit Scores on a quarterly basis.
• Defer payments while in school. Customers may defer payments as long as they are at least half-time students and for nine months after they graduate or leave school.
• Interest-only payments. Customers can choose the standard repayment of principal and interest, or ask to make interest-only payments for the first two or four years after graduation, followed by monthly principal and interest payments for the remainder of the loan’s term.

“In many educational programs, earning a degree is the last step, but law students face the additional hurdle of having to pass the bar,” said Charlie Rocha, executive vice president, Sallie Mae. “A Sallie Mae Bar Study Loan can help pay the bills while these students study for the bar, and help them feel financially prepared as they get one step closer to embarking on their legal careers.”

For more information or to apply online, visit www.SallieMae.com/BarStudy, or start the application process by calling Sallie Mae at 1-800-984-0190. For more tips, tools, and resources that can help students and families save, plan, and pay for college, visit SallieMae.com.

About Sallie Mae

Sallie Mae (NASDAQ: SLM) is the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company. Whether college is a long way off or just around the corner, Sallie Mae offers products that promote responsible personal finance, including private education loans, Upromise rewards, scholarship search, college financial planning tools, and online retail banking. Learn more at SallieMae.com. Commonly known as Sallie Mae, SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.

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