Lender Selection Criteria

GW School of Medicine Lender List and Selection Process

The George Washington University School of Medicine has compiled a Lender List made up of lenders whose terms, service and application / certification / disbursement processes appear to be favorable for student borrowers. Students may, but are not required, to work with any of the lenders on this list. Students may choose to work with any eligible federal or commercial lender for their borrowing needs, whether on the GW School of Medicine List or not. The GW School of Medicine Financial Aid Office will work with any lender a student selects to certify the student's loan(s) and to facilitate loan disbursement.

In order to compile its Lender List, The George Washington University School of Medicine Financial Aid Office requested information from a total of nine lenders - Total Higher Education, Discover Student Loans, SallieMae, Access Group, PNC Bank, EdAmerica, SunTrust, Citibank and Wells Fargo.

The first five of these lenders have worked with a number of GW medical students in recent years and have been providing excellent service. We selected the other four lenders as noted in our Lender Selection Process Memo. The nine lenders from whom we requested information represent both commercial and non-profit institutions.

Based upon the information we have received, the following is our Preferred Lender List:

We chose these lenders based upon: (1) competitiveness of loan terms; (2) customer service available to students; (3) provision of full line of loan programs including Federal Staffords, GradPLUS and private loan programs including residency and relocation loans; (4) ease of application, certification, and disbursement for students; (5) availability of debt management services; (6) stability and diversity of financial products offered; and (7) general reputation. 

It should be noted that we initially selected Total Higher Education as one of our four lenders based upon their exceptional customer service. However, on May 20, 2009, we received notification that they would not participate in the lending process for the 2009/2010 academic year. Naturally they were removed from the listing based upon this announcement and another lender was selected.

With regard to private loans, our decision was made based upon the loan terms listed at the time the information was requested, in late spring. Due to the current volatility of financial markets, students should consult the lender directly for the most up to date information!

Attached are lender comparison charts.

Students may use the list of lenders and the attached information as reference tools. Students should conduct independent investigations of these lenders, as well as of lenders not listed.

GW School of Medicine is not party to agreements with any lenders based upon volume, borrower type or any other factor. GW School of Medicine cannot warrant that any individual lender's terms are guaranteed or are the best available; better terms may exist; and terms may be subject to change.

To compare all aspects of loan programs, students are encouraged to contact individual lenders. Students may also use an independent and interactive web-based loan analyzer located at: www.finaid.com/calculators/loananalyzer.phtml.