Alternative loans should only be used as a last resort option to finance your education. Before you decide to consider an alternative (non-federal) loan, we recommend you:

• Carefully read the information about the loans. The interest rates are variable and have high maximums.
  
• Explore all other funding sources described on this web site
  
• Consider a Parent Loan (PLUS)
  
• Consider the Time Payment Plan
  
• Read "Which Loans Should I Consider"
  
• Read about "Smart Borrowing"
  
• "Ask the Right Questions"
  
• Contact the Financial Aid Office with any questions you have
  
  If you decide to proceed and consider an alternative non-federal loan, there are some additional things to consider:
  
  What Lender Should You Use?
  
  Some of our students have the need to borrow additional funds from private sources.  While we recommend that students and families exhaust all of their Stafford and PLUS eligibility, we realize this is not possible in all circumstances.  Private loans are more costly, riskier and typically require a co-signor and have a greater affect on long term credit scores of the borrower and co-signor.
  
  Suggested private/alternative loan lenders
  
  We do not make any specific recommendations of lenders to use for this type of loan.  The HESC Marketplace may help you to make an informed decision about the best lender and loan product for you.
  New York State Higher Education Services Corporation, a New York State Agency, has developed the HESC Marketplace, a tool that can be used to compare different private loan products.  It is a dynamic, interactive Web site that lets you learn about and compare multiple private loans with accurate and prequalified pricing.  Using this one site, you can get facts and information you need to evaulate your options.  the HESC Marketplace allows you to compare lenders using several different criteria, specific to your situation.