Loan Information for International Students
Supplemental Loan Programs
You may find that you have a shortfall in the total amount of financial resources that you need in order to attend HSPH. Our total cost of attendance budget at HSPH for international students is up to $57,642.00 for 2009-2010. You are eligible to apply for supplemental loans up to the cost of attendance minus other financial aid resources. For example, if you received $20,000 in a scholarship (within HSPH or externally), you may qualify for a loan up to $37,642.00 ($57,642 minus $20,000).
Supplemental loans are not packaged automatically and are considered self-initiated requests. You may choose from a number of differing loan options and initiate a loan application. Once you have completed the required application, our office will certify these loans and they will disburse directly on your Harvard bill.
When borrowing a loan in the U.S, you should be considering the following: credit requirements, interest rate terms (ie: fixed or variable), fees, repayment incentives for the borrower, total cost, deferment and forbearance options, repayment timelines and flexibility.
Additional factors to consider as an international student borrowing:
It is imperative that when you apply for a loan that you only consider an amount that is realistic for you to borrow. Please take into consideration your citizenship country, economic situation, ease of repayment, exchange rates, and job prospects. This may be a bit of a challenge to gauge, but there are some loan calculators that we would strongly recommend you visit to assist you in capturing a picture of your future repayment.
Loan Calculators:
http://finaid.org/calculators/
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/calc.html
http://www.accessgroup.org/calculators/index.htm
International Loan Program Information 2009-2010
Harvard University has secured two new sources of funding for international graduate students after major lenders withdrew from the market for international student loans late last year. We are now able to release the details of these loan programs.
Harvard University has announced a partnership with both the Harvard University Employees Credit Union and JP Morgan Chase. The agreements reached with these lenders expand the pool of available funds and will make loans accessible to international graduate and professional students that do not require a U.S. co-signer.
Please see the Terms & Conditions Fact Sheet for more information regarding both the HUECU and JP Morgan Chase International Loan Programs which do NOT require a U.S. cosigner. Please note these are one-year contracts for the 2009-2010 academic year. While we anticipate a continued relationship with each lender in subsequent years, we cannot guarantee the custom loan programs will be available or with the same terms and conditions.
Please continue to review this section of the website for updates on:
*The operational piece for applying for one of the no-cosigner loan programs.
*How applying for a private loan factors into the financial certification for the I-20/visa process
*The expected timeline and details from making the application to loan approval to disbursement of funds
Supplemental International Loan Application Processes, Procedures, & Timelines
HUECU Student Choice International Private Student Loan Program
CHASE Select International Private Student Loan Program
Preliminary Loan Request Forms
HUECU Student Choice International Private Student Loan Program
CHASE Select International Private Student Loan Program
We are delighted that Harvard University was able to negotiate two international no-cosigner loan choices for our international students. Please feel free to contact us for more information at 617-432-1867 or by email at osfs@hsph.harvard.edu.
Additionally, information on other private loan options for graduate students (that do require a U.S. co-signer) may be viewed here. You may find that applying for a loan with a U.S. co-borrower may result in more favorable terms and conditions so please review carefully all of the available loan programs if you will need to borrow for your attendance at HSPH.
NOTE: For full disclosure requirements on supplemental loan programs we invite you to visit our central ISite, Private Loans for Graduate and Professional Students
Some other supplemental private loan options for international students with a U.S. Cosigner may be explored at the following websites:
Chase, Chase Select Student Loan
Citibank, CitiAssist Loan
Citizens Bank, Signature Loan
Discover, Discover Student Loan
Graduate Leverage, Graduate Leverage Private Loan
Sallie Mae, Graduate Student Loans
Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo Graduate Loans
IMPORTANT NOTE: HSPH can not guarantee the same terms from year to year for students borrowing supplemental or private loans.