Private Student Loans
Private student loan volume grows when federal student loan limits remain stagnant.
Private student loan volume grew much more rapidly than federal student loan volume through mid-2008, in part because aggregate loan limits on the Stafford loan remained unchanged from 1992 to 2008. (The introduction of the Grad PLUS loan on July 1, 2006 and the increases in the annual but not aggregate limits had only a modest impact on the growth of private student loan volume. The subprime mortgage credit crisis of 2007-2010, however, limited lender access to the capital needed to make new loans, reining in growth of the private student loan marketplace.) The annual increase in private student loan volume was about 25% to 35% per year, compared with 8% per year for federal loan volume.
Student Loan Comparison Sites
This page provides a basic comparison chart that highlights the key characteristics of the major private education loans. FinAid also provides a separate list of private consolidation loans that can be used to consolidate private education loans.
In addition to these lists of private student loan programs, there are several web sites that provide tools for comparing private student loans. These tools can help you identify the loans that match your criteria. These student loan comparison sites include SimpleTuition and Overture Student Loan Marketplace, among other student loan comparison sites.
Then the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 increased the annual and aggregate loan limits on the federal Stafford loan starting July 1, 2008. This shifted significant loan volume from private student loan programs to federal.
Private student loan volume dropped in half in 2008-09, according to the College Board's Trends in Student Aid 2009.
Private student loan volume is expected to return to the 25% annual growth rate unless there is another increase in federal loan limits or an expansion of the availability of federal student loans. For example, the proposal for expanding Perkins loan funding from $1 billion a year to $8.5 billion a year will cause a significant decline in private student loan volume. But so long as federal loan limits do not increase every year, private student loan volume will continue to grow at double-digit rates.
If current trends continue, annual private education loan volume will surpass federal student loan volume by around 2030. Accordingly, it is important that students have tools they can use to compare different private student loans.