Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan Review: Dive in to explore

Unable to bear the expenses of Bar Study and in need of financial support for taking up the Bar Exams?

You don’t have to worry a lot about solving these issues. You can find a solution by applying for Bar Study Loans. Bar Study Loan makes it easy for you to fulfill the financial needs of your Bar Study Program. It makes an opportunity for the successful completion of your Bar Study goals.

Table of contents

What is a bar study loan?
Who is Wells Fargo?
Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan
Eligibility
Features
Repayment
Discounts
Refinancing
Pros
Cons
Alternate lender
Concluding thoughts

Bar Study loan

Private Student Loans can be a solution to most of the financial needs of the students to meet their study-related expenses. One such loan that helps Law Students, is the Bar Study Loan. Bar study loans are provided by the lenders only to those who are seeking loans for the expenses towards their bar exam study. You can make use of this loan for your bar study,bar-exam preparation expenses, exam fees, and other associated expenses.

The Bar Study Loans comes under Private Student Loans, so it may hold most of the common benefits and burdens of Private Student Loans.

There are various lenders who provide Bar study loans at different rates of interest and repayment terms. Here we review Wells Fargo’s Bar Study Loan.

Wells Fargo

There are a number of private banks in the U.S that provide Student Loans, Wells Fargo is one among them. In Fact, Wells Fargo is considered to be one among the largest banks in the U.S and it is a leader in the private student lending space. Wells Fargo provides private student loans. Along with student loans, Wells Fargo also offers loan refinancing in the name of private consolidation. Wells Fargo has been doing its service since the mid-1960s.

Explore more on Wells Fargo Student Loans

Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan

Wells Fargo offers various kinds of loans that include Private Student Loans as well. Under Private Student Loans, it provides a special category of loans for those who seek loans for dealing with the expenses of their Bar study. A Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan/Wells Fargo Bar Exam Loan has been effectively designed for the students who are pursuing law in the U.S.It aims to cover the expenses related to the bar exam including registration, preparatory materials, and living expenses.

Struggling to meet your study expenses? Check out the best student loans suited for you

Eligibility conditions to avail Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan

Usually, lenders tend to verify a few valid details to check your eligibility towards granting you the loan.

Citizenship: The Wells Fargo Bar Study Load can be applied with the following criteria of citizenship.

The applicant can be a,

U.S. citizen.
Can be an alien but should be a permanent resident of the U.S.
Can temporary resident alien with current U.S. address.

Credit Score: The Wells Fargo doesn’t specify a minimum credit score requirement of the applicant of the loan but it is always better to have a good credit score of an average of FICO 761. It is more likely to qualify for a Wells Fargo loan if you have a good credit score as mentioned above.

NOTE: The above-mentioned credit score is the average score of both borrower and cosigner.

Academic eligibility: The applicant/borrower must be either enrolled in the final year of the Law program at an eligible school or have graduated within 30 days from an eligible law school. It also matters if you have satisfactory academic progress in an eligible program.

Age: You can apply for the loan only if you have met the age of majority i.e,18 or older at the time of applying for the loan. Or you need to have an eligible cosigner.

State: You need to make sure about the availability of Wells Fargo Bar Study Loans in your state.

Fortunately, the Wells Fargo Student Loans are available for almost all the states of the U.S.

School: It is important to make sure that your school is eligible for you to avail of the Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan. School’s eligibility if verified based on its relationship with Wells Fargo.Before applying for the loan check the existing relationship status of your school with Wells Fargo. You can check by contacting the lender or their financial aid office.

Features of Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan

It is always better to ensure that you are aware of all the important features of the loan before applying for a loan.

The core features of the Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan are listed in the following table :

Features	Description
No Fees or Charges	You need not pay any application fee, organization fee, or late fees. There is no need of paying any penalty for paying off your loan early.
Competitive APRs	The borrower is allowed to choose between two competitive rates: Variable rates range from 11.34% APR (with discount) to 11.56% APR (without discount). Fixed rates range from 12.45% APR (with discount) to 12.67% APR (without discount).
Discounts	Customer Discount Automatic Payment Discount
Maximum loan	Under Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan you can borrow up to $12,000.But always borrow only what you need.
Grace Period	The grace period is for 6 months from your graduation date. The borrower is not expected to make any payments during the grace period.

Repayment of Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan

Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan Repayment process is almost the same as any other Student Loan Repayment. Your first required payment will be due six months after you leave law school.

The maximum in-school period is 3 years after the date of the first disbursement.

Once you have started the loan repayment you are expected to pay an amount not less than $50 every month. Your loan amount and other associated factors may play a major role in deciding your monthly payment amount. Usually, the monthly repayment amounts are higher than $50 depending on the loan amount. Along with this, there is an impact of the type of interest rates applied to the principal.

Interest continues to accrue during any in-school period and is capitalized to the account upon entering repayment.

A major factor that affects your Monthly Payment is the interest rate itself,

Know your interest rate

Your interest rate will be determined by several factors when you apply, most importantly your credit history.

Your interest rate options will be presented to you during the application process, at which point you can choose between a specific variable interest rate and specific fixed interest rate.

Fixed and variable interest rates and their impact on monthly payments

Fixed interest rates stay constant over the life of the loan. There will be no increase or decrease in the interest on your loan.

Variable interests are mostly influenced by market conditions. If the market rates go up, your interest rate also increases, which effectively leads to an increase in your monthly payments.

Note: You can reduce your interest by applying for different discounts available under the Wells Fargo Loan.

Discounts available with Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan Review

Discounts are meant to lower your interest rates by a small amount. The borrower may qualify for a relationship interest rate discount if The borrower or their cosigner have any of the following with Wells Fargo before the Final Loan Disclosure being issued:

A Portfolio by Wells Fargo® relationship — 0.50% discount

Portfolio by Wells Fargo® relationship checking accounts: Private Bank Checking, Private Bank Dividend Checking, Private Bank Interest Checking, Wells Fargo Portfolio Checking, Wells Fargo Prime Checking®.
A qualifying Wells Fargo consumer checking account — 0.25% discount

Wells Fargo consumer checking accounts: Complete Advantage® Checking, Crown Banking® Checking, Custom Management® Checking, Gold Package® Checking, Opportunity Checking®, Premium Membership® Checking, Way2Save® Checking, Wells Fargo College Checking®, Wells Fargo Everyday Checking, Wells Fargo Preferred Checking, Wells Fargo At WorkSM Checking.
A prior federal or private student loan made by Wells Fargo — 0.25% discount [prior Wachovia federal student loans are not eligible].

Note: You may be eligible for more than one discounts but only one qualifying relationship discount will apply. You will receive the applicable discount for the life of the loan.

Refinancing student loans through Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo offers student loan refinancing that includes refinancing for Bar Study Loan. When you refinance student loans, you take out a new student loan and use the money to pay off your existing loans. Your current loans are consolidated by Wells Fargo by making payments to your current lenders.

Refinancing your loans can get you a lower interest rate on your loan. And it becomes easy to track and manage your loan repayment as your loans are consolidated to a single loan.

Advantages of Wells Fargo Bar Study Loan

Discounts - As discussed above discounts play a major role in lowering your interest rates. You can get a 0.25% interest rate discount for signing up for autopay. If you or your co-signer are an existing Wells Fargo student loan or consumer checking customer before submitting an application, you can get a 0.25% interest rate reduction on your consolidation loan. If you or a co-signer have a Portfolio by Wells Fargo account, you can alternatively get a 0.50% interest rate reduction.
Temporary Relief - Your loan payments could also be deferred following a natural disaster, and you can apply for temporary repayment relief if you lose your job or have to deal with unexpected medical bills.

A dedicated specialist - Wells Fargo assigns a student loan representative to the borrowers. The borrower can or email the same person if they have any questions or problems regarding the loan.

Drawbacks of Wells Fargo Bars StudyLoans

Only Few loan term options - Other than the consolidation loan and MedCAP Alternative Loan, Wells Fargo’s student loans offer only one loan term option, that usually ranges from 12 to 20 years. It will be beneficial if the borrowers have choices. A shorter-term could save you money, while a longer-term could lower your monthly payments.

A checkered past- Wells Fargo has dealt with several scandals recently, and its student loan division isn’t above the fray. In 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) forced Wells Fargo to pay over $4 million in fines and student aid relief. The CFPB allegations include claims that Wells Fargo failed to provide important payment information to borrowers, charged borrowers illegal fees and didn’t correct mistakes in borrowers’ credit reports.

Alternate Lender options for Bar Study

Wells Fargo is not always the best option to go for a Bar study loan, there are other lenders too. And there are few other lenders who offer lower interest rates and longer repayment terms.

The below table shows the different interest rates and loan amounts provided for repayment,

Company	Annual Principal Rate(ARP)	Loan Amount
Sallie Mae	4.64% – 11.56%	$1,000 – $15,000
PNC	4.67% – 11.87%	$1,000 – $15,000
Citizens Bank	6.15% – 12.80%	$1,000 – $16,000
Wells Fargo	11.56% – 12.67%	$1,000 – $12,000
Discover	6.37% – 12.74%	$1,000 – $16,000

Other alternatives

Today the law school graduates are a lousy credit risk, many have massive student debt, and some don’t yet have jobs and if they have a huge loan on the shoulder then life becomes tough. But the fact that a bar study loan is a personal loan rather than a traditional educational loan changes things from the lender’s perspective and thus the reason the interest rates of bar study loan are higher.

In this situation taking a job during studies only can help as it will help in earn income and will reduce the burden but this option didn’t work for all so if you desperately need the money and have no other alternative should consider traditional personal loans instead. Traditional personal loan lenders such as SoFi will offer a rate lower but later it gets increases but it can help in the initial stage to start with. But what is the difference between personal and traditional loans? The answer is that personal loans do not have recent graduation requirements or lifetime educational borrowing limits. The last option is to find 0% into APR credit card, as this is a more risky option. For this also check the rates and card terms and then jump to this option.

Concluding Thoughts

Wells Forgo is not the best among the options that you have for Bars Study Loans. It is not advised to go for it unless you have no other option, because of the high annual principal rates. And also Wells Fargo has dealt with several scandals recently which makes it not much trustworthy. So it is better to find out the best lender who offers you loans with good benefits and feasible conditions.

If this loan does not seem right for you, then we advise you to check out these Top 5 Bar Study Loans.

Get closer to the Wells Fargos’ Customer Care by seeking the contact details mentioned below.