ISL Education Lending Review: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives

ISL Education Lending is a non-profit student loan lender that offers private student loans and student loan refinancing. 

Once you’ve exhausted all of your federal financial aid options, getting additional money for school may mean turning to private lenders.

While private student loans don’t offer all of the protections that federal student loans provide, they can be a needed source of school funding. 

Not all private lenders are created equal. And it's important to research each lender's pros and cons to determine which one might be the best fit. In this article, we'll look at ISL Education Lending and why you might want to consider them as a supplemental lender to your federal student loans.

Who Is ISL Education Lending?

Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation, doing business as ISL Education Lending, is a non-profit organization or Section 501(c)(3). The company was established in 1979 and is based in West Des Moines, Iowa. The Chair of the organization is Christine Hensley.

While the organization was originally intended to help Iowa students find affordable financial aid, you don't have to be an Iowa resident or be attending an Iowa school to take out an ISL undergraduate, family, or refinance loan.

ISL Education Lending Student Loans

ISL Education Lending provides private student loans and refinancing to current students for postsecondary education. Loans are offered directly to students and families via a co-signer. 

Because private student loans do not offer the same advantages as federal student loans, federal student loans should be considered first. ISL even mentions this on their website. They say that any ISL loans should only be used as a supplement after federal aid has been exhausted.

Private Loan Types

ISL Education Lending offers private student loans for both undergraduates and graduate school students. There are three loan types to choose from:

These rates are accurate as of December 29, 2023. Rates subject to change.

Note that graduate students generally have unlimited federal assistance available in the form of Grad PLUS loans. Unlike Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans (which have set yearly and aggregate limits), Grad PLUS loans allows students to borrow up to their school's full cost of attendance.

Loan Credit Requirements

From ISL’s website, the student or cosigner must meet the following:

Unfortunately, ISL Education Lending doesn't have a pre-qualification tool for its Partnership Loan and No-Cosigner Graduate Loan. So if you want to get a rate quote for either of the loans, you'll need to submit a full loan application.

Cosigner Requirements

A cosigner is used when students can't meet the loan qualification requirements themselves. ISL has some stiff cosigner requirements, including a 670 minimum credit score. The credit score used by ISL Education Lending is the TransUnion FICO Score 4.

One advantage for cosigners is that they are not required to meet the debt-to-income ratio (DTI) that students must meet. And the Partnership Loan does have a cosigner release provision. After 24 months of on-time payments, the borrower can apply to have the cosigner released from the loan.

Related: How To Get A Private Student Loan With No Cosigner

Repayment Options

Partnership Loans and College Family Loans comes with three repayment options:

How Do ISL Student Loans Compare?

ISL Education Lending offers competitive interest rates and one of the fasts paths to cosigner release that we've seen. However, it offers fewer repayment terms than other private student loan lenders. Check out this quick chart to see how ISL Education Lending compares:

ISL Education Lending Student Loan Refinancing

ISL Education Lending offers student loan refinancing as well. Keep in mind that if you're refinancing a federal student loan, it will become a private loan and you’ll lose all federal loan benefits.

ISL is actually one of the few lenders that offers in-school refinancing. In addition to its in-school refinance loan, after-school refinancing is available for the following loan types:

• Undergraduate loans
• Graduate loans
• Parent loans
• Medical professional loans
• Medical resident loans

ISL's refinance loans come with more repayments terms than their in-school loans. Borrowers can pay back their loans over 5,7,10,12, 15, or 20 years. These loans come with fixed interest rates ranging from 2.62% to 7.64% APR.

Unlike with its private student loans, you can compare ISL's refinance loans on Credible. And if you use this link to start the shopping process, you can qualify for a bonus of up to $1,000 gift card.

How Does ISL Student Loan Refinancing Compare?

ISL's refinance loans are more flexible than their private student loans. However, they only offer fixed interest rates. Here's a quick look at how ISL Education Lending compares to other popular student loan refinance lenders: 

How Do I Contact ISL Education Lending?

You can reach customer service by secure email or by phone at (855) 811-9849. Their hours of availability are 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (CT) Monday–Friday. For loan application assistance, call (800) 542-6005.

Are There Any Fees?

No — ISL doesn’t charge any application or origination fees. There aren't late fees either. You simply pay the loan interest. There is an additional 0.25% rate reduction for automatic payments.

Why Should You Trust Us

I am America’s Student Loan Debt Expert™ and have been actively writing about and covering student loans since 2009. Myself and the team here at The College Investor have been actively tracking student loan providers since 2015 and have reviewed, tested, and followed almost every provider and lender in the space.

Furthermore, our compliance team reviews the rates and terms on these listing every weekday to ensure they are accurate. That way you can be sure you're looking at an accurate and up-to-date rate when you're comparison shopping. 

Who Is It For And Is It Worth It?

Yes — given that they charge no loan fees, their interest rates are competitive, and hardship options are available, ISL Education Lending may be worth checking if you're looking to refinance your existing student loans. It could be an especially strong option if you or your cosigner have a high credit score.

However, ISL may not be a good choice if your credit score is less than stellar since its 670 minimum credit score is on the high side. Also, it should be noted that while ISL's refinance loan offers good payment flexibility, their in-school student loans only come in 10 or 15 year terms. You'll need to look elsewhere if you were hoping for more repayment term options.

Before choosing ISL, be sure to shop around to give yourself the best chance of finding the lowest rate. You can quickly compare its refinance loans on Credible. And, remember, you can receive a bonus of up to $1,000 gift card regardless of the refinance lender that you choose.

ISL Education Lending FAQs

Here a few of the most common questions that we receive about ISL Education Lending:

Is ISL Education Lending the same as Iowa Student Loan?

Yes, Iowa Student Loan recently re-branded and now goes by the name ISL Education Lending. However, its loan products have largely remained unchanged. 

Do you need to be a resident of Iowa to apply for an ISL Education Lending loan?

No, ISL Education Lending's private student loans and refinance loans are available to students and existing borrowers in all 50 states.

Is ISL Education Lending a nonprofit company?

Yes, ISL has been self-funded since its founding in 1979 and does not have shareholders.

Does ISL Education Lending offer any bonuses or incentives?

Yes, refinance borrowers can receive a bonus of up to $1,000 gift card by applying through Credible.

ISL Education Lending Features