The best graduate student loans for financing an advanced degree

Deciding whether or not to go to graduate school is an expensive decision to make. Graduate degree programs typically cost more than undergraduate programs, plus some students enter their grad school era already carrying student loan debt from their undergrad years.

At the same time, however, grad school can pay off. Many people pursue an advanced degree to become more specialized in their field and, ideally, earn more money in the future.

To lessen the burden that an advanced degree can have on your finances, give good consideration to how you'll pay for it. The most favorable borrowing option for graduate students is generally federal direct unsubsidized loans through the government. But because there's an annual $20,500 limit, you'll likely need to turn to grad PLUS loans or private student loans to finance the rest.

CNBC Select set out to find the best graduate school student loans from private lenders. In choosing the top ones, we focused on lenders' loan amounts, loan specializations offered, credit requirements and eligibility, as well as repayment terms, interest rates and fees. (See our methodology for more information on how we made this list.)

• Best for instant credit decision: College Ave
• Best for multi-year financing: Citizens Bank
• Best for applying with a co-signer: Sallie Mae
• Best for applying without a co-signer: Ascent
• Best for fair credit: Earnest
• Best for a grad-level certificate: SoFi

With College Ave, borrowers can apply within minutes and get an instant decision on their student loan so they can quickly know their next move.

[ Jump to more details ]

Instead of having to re-apply each year for grad school funding, Citizens Bank lets borrowers apply for all years in one go. This relieves the stress of worrying about how you'll pay for that next semester. (Borrowers may need to verify their continued eligibility.)

[ Jump to more details ]

Sallie Mae offers a co-signer release option with a relatively easy-to-meet threshold: Borrowers can apply to let go of their co-signer after they graduate, make 12 on-time principal and interest payments and meet certain credit requirements. This could be an incentive for a co-signer to sign on, knowing they don't have to be on the hook the whole loan term.

[ Jump to more details ]

Ascent can be a good lender to consider if you don't have access to a co-signer. Borrowers without a co-signer must meet the following requirements to get a grad school loan: either a U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident or someone with DACA status, an annual income of at least $24,000 and at least two years of credit history. There are minimum credit score requirements as well, but these vary. To help with your grad school funding, Ascent also offers its own graduate school scholarships.

[ Jump to more details ]

Those with fair credit should look to private lender Earnest to help finance their graduate degree. Earnest allows borrowers — or their co-signers — with a minimum FICO® Score of 650 to apply. Earnest also stands out for offering a Rate Match Guarantee where the lender will match a competing lender's rate, plus give a $100 Amazon gift card upon rate match confirmation.

[ Jump to more details ]

It can be harder to find financing for those seeking just a graduate certificate instead of a full-on graduate degree since not all graduate certificate programs qualify for federal aid. However, SoFi provides lending to eligible borrowers in graduate-level certificate programs, as well as to half-time graduate students (which not many private lenders accommodate).

[ Jump to more details ]

College Ave offers competitive interest rates, plus no application, origination or prepayment fees. Borrowers can choose a fixed or variable rate and there's a 0.25% rate discount when signing up for autopay. College Ave also offers hardship protections like deferment, forbearance and grace period options. Borrowers with College Ave student loans can start repaying while still in school.

In addition to a generic graduate student loan, College Ave offers financing for those pursuing degrees in the following programs: dental, law, medical, MBA and health professions.

Eligible loans

Undergraduate and graduate loans, parent loans

Loan amounts

$1,000 minimum; maximum up to cost of attendance

Loan terms

5, 8, 10, 15 years; graduate loans up to 20 years

[ Return to account summary ]

Citizens Bank is a big bank that offers competitive student loan rates, plus no application, origination or prepayment fees. Citizens Bank also offers hardship protections like forbearance, and student loan borrowers can start repaying while still in school.

Citizens Bank provides loans for master's degrees, MBAs, law school, medical school and dental school.

Eligible loans

Undergraduate and graduate loans, parent loans

Loan amounts

$150,000 maximum, or cost of attendance, whichever is lower

Loan terms

5, 10, 15 years

[ Return to account summary ]

Sallie Mae has interest rates that are competitive with other private lenders, and they can be variable or fixed. Borrowers can score a 0.25% autopay rate discount and take advantage of no origination, application or prepayment fees. Borrower protections include deferment and forbearance. Sallie Mae lets its borrowers start repaying their loans while still in school.

Sallie Mae offers general graduate school loans (for master's or doctoral degrees), MBA loans, medical school and medical residency loans, health professions loans, dental school and dental residency loans, law school and bar study loans.

Eligible loans

Undergraduate and graduate loans

Loan amounts

$1,000 minimum; maximum up to cost of attendance

Loan terms

10, 15 years

[ Return to account summary ]

Ascent borrowers can choose between a fixed or a variable rate, and there's an up to 1% interest rate discount for autopay. There are no fees for paying off your loan early, as well as no origination or application fee. Ascent also offers rewards like 1% cash back on principal loan amounts at graduation. There are also deferment and forbearance options available to borrowers. Ascent student loan borrowers can start making their payments while in school.

Ascent offers the following graduate school loan options: MBA loans, medical school loans, dental school loans, law school loans, doctorate and master's loans, plus health professional loans.

Eligible loans

Undergraduate and graduate loans

Loan amounts

$2,001 minimum; maximum up to $200,000 for undergraduate loans and up to $400,000 for graduate loans

Loan terms

5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 20 years

[ Return to account summary ]

With Earnest, there are competitive interest rates and the option to choose between variable or fixed. Borrowers will also get a 0.25% autopay rate discount. There are no origination fees or prepayment penalties. Borrower protections include a 9-month grace period and borrowers can make payments while in school.

Earnest offers general graduate student loans, MBA loans, medical school loans and law school loans.

Eligible loans

Undergraduate and graduate loans, parent loans, international and DACA student loans

Loan amounts

$1,000 minimum (or up to state); maximum up to cost of attendance

Loan terms

5, 7, 10, 12, 15 years

[ Return to account summary ]

SoFi offers solid interest rates, both fixed and variable, as well as a 0.25% autopay rate discount. There are no application or origination fees and no prepayment penalties. Borrowers can get unemployment protection and other forbearance options, plus make student loan payments while still in school.

SoFi offers general graduate school loans, law school loans, MBA loans and health professions loans. As a SoFi student loan borrower, you'll get exclusive member benefits like premium travel offers, personalized career advice, financial planning from real-life advisors and more.

Eligible loans

Undergraduate and graduate loans, parent loans

Loan amounts

$5,000 minimum (or up to state); maximum up to cost of attendance

Loan terms

5, 7, 10, 15 years; refinancing loans up to 20 years

[ Return to account summary ]

Graduate student loans consist of both federal and private loans. Under the federal student loan umbrella, there are federal direct unsubsidized loans and grad PLUS loans. (Unlike undergraduate borrowers, graduate borrowers can't access federal direct subsidized loans.)

Federal direct unsubsidized loans are low-interest, fixed loans that don't have any credit requirements and come with federal benefits like income-driven repayment (IDR) plans and loan forgiveness programs. Borrowers can only borrow up to $20,500 per year, however.

To finance the rest of grad school after reaching this limit, borrowers can either turn to the other federal loan option, grad PLUS loans or private student loans.

Grad PLUS loans and private student loans both require a credit check but should be weighed against one another. PLUS loans come with federal borrower protections but charge a loan origination fee. Meanwhile, many private lenders offer zero origination fees and lower interest rates for those with good credit. Plus, private lenders tend to have loans for specialized programs such as law school, medical school, dental school, residencies, MBAs or certain health professions, as well as general graduate loans for those pursuing a master's or doctoral degree.

The best graduate school student loans are federal direct unsubsidized loans from the government. But because they have a funding limit of up to $20,500 per year, to fill in the remaining gap consider the private student loan lenders on this list.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every student loan review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of student loan products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best graduate school student loans.

To determine the best graduate school student loans, CNBC Select analyzed and compared private student loan funding from national banks, credit unions and online lenders. We narrowed down our ranking by only considering those that offer competitive student loan rates and prequalification tools that don't hurt borrowers' credit.

While the companies we chose in this article consistently rank as having some of the market's lower interest rates, we also compared each company on the following features:

• Broad availability: All of the companies on our list offer undergraduate and graduate private student loans, and they all offer variable and fixed interest rates to choose from
• Flexible loan terms: Each company provides a variety of financing options that borrowers can customize based on their monthly budget and how long they need to pay back their student loan. Each company also allows borrowers to start repaying their student loans while still in school, ultimately saving them money
• No origination or signup fee: None of the companies on our list charge borrowers an upfront "origination fee" for taking out their loan
• No early payoff penalties: The companies on our list do not charge borrowers prepayment penalties for paying off loans early
• Streamlined application process: We made sure companies offered a fast online application process
• Autopay discounts: All of the companies listed offer an autopay interest rate discount
• Private student loan protections: Each company on our list offers some type of financial hardship protection for borrowers
• Loan sizes: The above companies offer private student loans in an array of sizes, all the way up to the cost of college attendance. Each company advertises its respective loan sizes, and completing a preapproval process can give borrowers an idea of what their interest rate and monthly payment would be
• Credit requirements/eligibility: We took into consideration the minimum credit scores and income levels required if this information was available
• Customer support: Every company on our list provides customer service available via telephone, email or secure online messaging. We also opted for lenders with an online resource hub or advice center to help borrowers educate themselves about student loans in general

After reviewing the above features, we sorted our recommendations by best for instant credit decision, best for multi-year financing, best for applying with a co-signer, best for applying without a co-signer, best for fair credit and best for a grad-level certificate.

Note that the rates and fee structures for private student loans are not guaranteed forever; they are subject to change without notice and they often fluctuate in accordance with the Fed rate. Choosing a fixed-rate APR will guarantee that one's interest rate and monthly payment will remain consistent throughout the entire term of the loan.

A borrower's interest rate depends on their credit score, income, debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, savings, payment history and overall financial health. To take out private student loans, lenders will conduct a hard credit inquiry and request a full application, which could require proof of income, identity verification, proof of address and more.

Catch up on CNBC Select's in-depth coverage of credit cards, banking and money, and follow us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date.