Wells Fargo Student Loans Reviews

Wells Fargo is an American Multinational Financial Services Company. The articles has practices, advantages,refinancing, repayments,consolidation etc

Updated by Theres Ann on 17th December 2020

Wells Fargo offers student loans in a variety of forms including undergraduate loans, graduate loans, career and community college loans, parent loans and consolidates student loans.

These student loans cover 100% of your eligible college expenses. However, the minimum amount that is set to borrow is $1,000 and the maximum amount is $120,000. A six month grace period is offered after graduation. No payment has to be made during the grace period and while you are enrolled.

The repayment term for a graduate student loan is 15 years and you can choose between a fixed and variable rate.

The range of variable Annual Percentage Rate is from 4.74% to 9.99%.

The range of fixed Annual Percentage Rate is from 5.24% to 9.99%. If you enroll in automatic payments, a 0.25% interest rate reduction is applied.

Table of contents

Wells Fargo student loans reviews

When you are going for loans it’s better to evaluate the lenders’ benefits and drawback both to take better decisions thus here the pros and cons of Wells Fargo student loans-

Pros

1- Offers various interest-rate discounts to its banking customers which helps them to greatly extend.

2- Cosigners can be released from loans.

3-They charge fewer fees like for application or origination fees.

Cons

1- The student loan interest rate they offer might be not the best option for borrowers especially if you don’t qualify for Wells Fargo’s relationship discount thus it’s better to evaluate the lender before applying.

2- For loan, the prequalification isn’t an option and a borrower has to agree to a hard credit inquiry to see your rates.

3-The customer service of Wells Fargo is not often appreciated. Complaints against the customer service include unauthorized withdrawals the accounts of customers, customer representatives who do not help, customer representatives who are not friendly, and more. Overpaid amounts are sometimes received late.


Loans provided by Wells Fargo

Below is a list of private loans provided to help students cover their educational expenses. 

Undergraduate private student loans 

This loan is specially designed for undergraduates attending traditional four-year schools to pay for college. This covers the cost of education, tuition, books, computers, and housing.

Benefits 

By choosing to borrow from the Wells Fargo Undergraduate Private Student Loan Program, the students receive the benefits as mentioned below.

  • Students need to start repaying the loans, only within 6 months after leaving schools.

  • Students can even make early payments even while they are at school.

  • There is no requirement of application, origination, or prepayment fee.

  • An interest rate with a qualifying early relationship is reduced.

To qualify for a loan and get a lower interest rate, a cosigner can be assigned. Most undergraduate and graduate students require help to qualify for student loans for college expenses and to fulfill their aims. Cosigners come in to help these students qualify for it.

Co-signer's responsibilities

A cosigner would agree to share equal responsibility for repayment.

  • A cosigner should be 18 years of age or more and should be a citizen of the United States, a US National or has proper evidence of eligibility and meets general loan eligibility and credit requirements can cosign.

  • A parent, guardian, spouse, relative, or even friend that meets the criteria can become a cosigner.

  • The eligibility criteria come in terms of age, income, citizenship requirements, and established credit history.

  • They need to present the Social Security Number, Information and/or employment, current address and telephone number, monthly rent, and/or mortgage payment amounts.

Eligibility

You need to satisfy, a set of criteria to receive the Wells Fargo Undergraduate Private Student Loan. They include the following - 

  • You should be enrolled as an undergraduate student in an eligible school, either seeking a degree, certificate, or license. Even if you are enrolled less than half the time, you’ll qualify to receive it

  • Borrow up to the total cost of attendance and reduce the other aid received from it. The minimum amount to be borrowed is $1,000

  • Application, origination fee or penalty is not applied

  • Payments are not made until 6 months after you leave school. Upon deciding to pay back the loans early, fewer amounts are paid in interest. This reduces the overall cost.

Requirements 

The essential documents and ID required to apply for the loan are given below.

  • School name, major, and grade level need to be applied at the time of filling the application

  • Social Security Number is entered

  • Permanent US Address has to be entered

  • The borrower’s and the co-signer (if applicable), employment and income information are entered

  • The cost of attendance and an estimated amount of financial assistance that you expect to receive are entered.

Wells Fargo student loans have flexible forbearance and repayment options and the borrowers are assigned to a flexible student loan adviser and only borrowers who are enrolled less than half time are eligible. 

Graduate student loans

Graduate student loans by Wells Fargo are aimed at graduate students who are enrolled in MBA, law, or other qualified graduate programs and are seeking a degree, license or certificate. This loan covers the cost of education, tuition, fees, books, expenses, and more.

Benefits 

The advantages of choosing this loan program are given below.

  • Students need not make payments until 6 months after leaving school.

  • Application, origination, or early repayment fee may not be included.

  • A competitive fixed or variable interest rate option is selected.

  • Loan costs can be reduced by qualifying for interest rate discounts

Students qualify on their own without a cosigner. A cosigner can help you to get a lower interest rate on the Wells Fargo Graduate student loan.

Payments are not required until 6 months after you leave school. And you’ll have almost 15 years to repay the loan in this case. Early payments during the time at school, helps to reduce the amount of interest that you pay over your loan. Early repayment does not have a penalty.

Application, origination, or penalty is not available for paying your student loan early.

Variable interest rates range from 5.88% annual percentage rate to 12.22% annual percentage rate. Fixed interest rates range from 6.36% annual percentage rate along with a discount to 12.68% annual percentage rate without a discount.

Private Loans for Community College

This loan is designed for undergraduates attending four-year schools to pay for college. Expenses including the cost of education, tuition, books, computers, or housing cover up this type of loan.

No payments are made until 6 months after leaving school. Early payments can be made at any time during school. There is no application, origination, or early repayment fee. You can try to reduce your interest rate by qualifying for the relationship discount.

The variable interest rate of this type of loan ranges from 5.04% Annual Percentage Rate with Discount to 10.93% Annual Percentage Rate without discount.

Fixed interest rates of this kind of loans range from 5.94% Annual Percentage Rate with a discount to 11.26% annual percentage rate without discount.

Eligibility

The requirements to apply for private loans for Community colleges are given below.

  • You should be enrolled as an undergraduate student at an eligible and should be seeking a degree, a certificate, or a license

  • You must be a US Citizen or a US National or an international student with a US address

  • Till you meet all the requirements to qualify for the loan, including income, credit, and repayment ability, you’ll need to apply along with a co-signer

  • Temporary resident aliens usually need a qualified co-signer who is a US Citizen

From the total cost of attendance reduce the aid received to estimate the amount to be borrowed. The lifetime for the loan, with the educational debt, is $1,20,000. The minimum amount to be borrowed is $1,000.

Requirements 

  • Your school name, major, and grade level are to be submitted at the type of the application

  • Social Security Number should also be projected

  • A permanent US Address should be presented.

  • Employment and income information of both the borrower and the co-signer should be submitted

  • Attendance costs and an estimated amount of financial assistance that you expect to receive should also be submitted.

There is no application or origination fee and no penalty to pay off your loan early. No payments need to be paid until 6 months after you leave school. If you start early repayment of your loan, then you can pay less in interest. This reduces your overall cost.

Parents student loans

Parents' student loans for college help in allowing parents, family members, and friends to help students to cover their educational expenses. This helps them to focus on their studies and aids them to finance their education.

Benefits of the program

  • This program helps to enjoy the increased choice of usage as loan funds are sent directly to you

  • As there is no application or origination fee, there is no penalty to pay off your student loan early

  • The variable interest rate for the loan package range from 6.24% annual percentage rate with a discount to 12.74% annual percentage rate without discount.

Up to $25,00 can be borrowed in a school year. The lifetime limit for this loan combined with all the education-related debt is $1,00,000.

This loan is not just available for parents of a dependent undergraduate, but to any person who meets the eligibility requirements. The full cost of attendance up to  $25,000 is the maximum annual loan amount. A separate loan can be applied for, in case you want to borrow money for more than one student.

The parent or the person in whose name the is taken is responsible for making payments. That is a student is not responsible for making payments in this type of loan package. The repayment has to begin, while the student is still in school.

Up to 48 months of interest-only payments are made during the repayment period, even if the student has a half-time enrollment. Any unpaid portion of this loan will be forgiven in case of the student’s death or total and permanent disability.

Other Loan option offered by the Wells Fargo

Here are the other loan options offered by the Wells Fargo-

1-Medical School Loans

If you are planning to take graduation in medical, nursing, dental, or other health-related programs, Wells Fargo offers MedCAP Medical School Loans and this can be helpful as these loans give you a six-month grace period which helps in the stable start of payment. But for allopathic and osteopathic medical students can qualify for a 36-month grace period, giving them time to start their careers before they have to start making payments, this is a very cost-effective option for them. As the loan limit for life combined with all other education debt is dependent on your course of study.

2-Medical Residency and Relocation Loans

Wells Fargo’s MedCAP-XTRA loans are especially for those medical residents who need help covering expenses related to their residency, medical boards, or relocation expenses as in this they get a six-month grace period (36 months for allopathic and osteopathic students) and you can borrow up to $15,000 for qualifying expenses.

3-Bar Exam Loan

Wells Fargo bar exam loan is a good option for the law school student who is preparing to take the bar exam, as you can pay for registration fees, test preparation materials, and your living expenses as well as a student can borrow up to $12,000, and no payments are required until six months after he/she leaves law school.


Is Student Loan Refinancing Available?

Wells Fargo offers student loan refinancing for both federal and personal student loans. You can choose between fixed and variable-rate loans, and repayment terms range from five to 20 years in length as refinancing is the best option for you if you have multiple student loans, a good-paying job, and decent credit (or a cosigner), refinancing your loans is perhaps the proper answer.

However, if you believe one among the federal programs, like income-based repayment, it is best to stay thereupon until you're during a stable financial place.


Loan Consolidation

Wells Fargo Private Loan Consolidation combines multiple federal and/or private loans into a single loan.

Benefits 

The benefits of private loan consolidation are given below.

  • Refinancing of federal and/or private loans from any lender is possible

  • There is a possibility to choose from a fixed or variable rate option.

  • You’ll receive benefits from the Dedicated Student Loan Consultants

  • Loan costs can be significantly reduced by qualifying for interest rate discounts

  • Application, originality, or early repayment fees is not applied

  • The full cost of studying is most often born by the Wells Fargo Student loan.

  • The additional benefit is that students do not have to start repaying their loans until six months after their education is complete.

  • This loan covers eligible educational expenses, tuition, housing, books, laptop, lab fees, and more

  • Students or parents may apply to be the lead borrower.

  • Competitive rates including fixed or variable interest rates, along with interest rate discounts are granted by the Wells Fargo to its borrowers to help reduce student loan costs.

  • Students with a lesser chance of being approved of a loan, and does not possibly qualify for lower interest rates.

  • Rates are not on the rise for student loans. Interest rates vary by state and can be found on their website. Approximately an annual percentage rate of 4.33% to 6.17%, along with a fixed-rate loan APR of 9.88% to 11.26% is granted by the community colleges of Florida. With a 15-year loan rate, it is highly necessary to cut costs on your loan. 

Variable interest rates range from 3.75% annual percentage rate with discounts to 9.74% without discounts. Fixed interest rates range from 3.99% annual percentage rate with discounts to 9.99% annual percentage rate without discount. The APRs defer based on the repayment term.

The repayment term selected and the creditworthiness measure the actual APR. The options of the repayment term include 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 years based on credit qualification and the loan amount.

Tips to lower your interest rates after consolidation

Two popular ways to lower your interest rates are given below.

  • For the immediate discount, you’ll get a 0.25% interest reduction, for having a Wells Fargo student loan or if you qualify for a consumer checking account.

  • For automatic payment discount, you’ll receive a 0.25% interest rate reduction for automatic payment enrollment.

The choice of a fixed or variable repayment is based on your ability to repay. When variable interest rates vary depending upon the market trends, fixed-rate payments remain the same during the lifetime of the event. The creditor history of the borrower and the cosigner would indicate the interest rate.

Loan consolidation process

The stepwise procedure for loan consolidation at the Wells Fargo is as given below.

1. Online application

You can begin an online application if you are planning to borrow or cosign a loan.

2. Providing loan details

Information regarding current loan balance, monthly payment, who pays you each month, loan number, interest rate type, loan type, remaining term, billing statement are to be provided in the case of all loans that you need to consolidate.

3. Detailed Loan Review

To identify how you would be affected by student loans, a detailed loan review is conducted.

4. Sign in your documents

After your loan is approved and the documents are ready to be signed, a link will be mailed to be signed, online, or else faxed, mailed or uploaded. Some of the documents to be signed include Financial Informed Choice Form, Federal Loan Informed Choice Form, Loan Request Consumer Credit agreement, and a few more.


Worried about college fees? Learn more about student loans to finance your education.


Payment options

By managing your student loans, credit rating can be benefited and can assist your future financial goals. Various methods available for student loan repayment are as given below.

1. Automatic repayment 

After you have left the school and have started to receive monthly payments, timely payments are easily possible with automatic payments. Automatic deduction of amounts happen to form your bank account and you can qualify for a 0.25% interest rate discount.

For that, you need to first check if your loan is eligible for a financial aid discount. You can also submit the automatic authorization form.

2. Online transfer and payments

Funds can be transferred from a Wells Fargo deposit account or a non-Wells Fargo deposit account. For this payment to reflect on your account, it will take 1-2 business days. Payments are received within 10 pm.

3. Bills Pay 

Wells Fargo Bills Pay is another available option in case you have a Wells Fargo checking account. An email notification will be received when the bill is due and the payment confirmation is received once the payment is sent. This is a convenient way to pay the bill.

Payment can also be done through another institution’s bill pay service. To make delays, make sure that your account number is correct and that it prevents its payments or delays.

4. Mailing, Phoning, or In-Person payment 

Mailing, calling, or going to a banking location are other available options to make payments. To make a payment over the phone, you can call at 1-800-658-3567. Wells Fargo bank locations are also open to receiving payments.

If the payment is received by 5:00 pm will be received as on the day of receipt. If the payment is received after 5:00 pm then it will be credited on the following day. 


Forbearance and deferment

Borrowers have the option to defer payments while enrolled in a qualifying graduate or undergraduate program, avoiding the need to make payments while in school and to reduce the payment burden during studies. Note that the interest on your loan will still accrue while in deferment but the permitted deferment period for residency programs is capped at 36 months, which is less than the five years offered by Sallie Mae giving borrower.

Wells Fargo also offers additional repayment assistance, including temporary and permanent loan modification but it depends upon the situation at that moment. The borrowers who are in public or military service may also qualify for mandatory forbearance through terms dictated by the U.S. Department of Education.


Looking for more? Find a Private Student Loan


Wells Fargo Loan Servicing

Wells Fargo has tried to make its position as a large student loan lender, by buying portfolios of other banks that no longer offer student loans. An example case is that of USAA, which sold their portfolios to Wells Fargo and hence does not focus on student loan lending.

If you are looking for other terms, Wells Fargo will not always have, the competitive rates and terms.

The rate and fees acceptance percentage of Wells Fargo is 90% and the application requirement acceptance percentage is 70%. The customer service acceptance rate is 40% and the product and service acceptance rate is 80%. The loan term is for 15 to 20 years. $5,000 to $1,20,000 are offered as private loans. The individual loan must be at least $1,000.

The lifetime loan limit along with the educational debt is $2,50,000. Parent loan cannot be transferred to the child.

Responsibilities in loan repayment

The lender is responsible to offer the right amount to the right person. The firm follows certain principles in offering loans. The set of rules that the lender follows are given below.

  • The firm ensures that the student doesn’t borrow more than what he needs.

  • The student receives loan funds for many loans and these loans are applied directly to the student’s loans. The remaining funds will be given to the student by the school.

  • Identify the amount that the student is borrowing. Student loan payments should be no more than 10-15% of the borrowers’ monthly income.

  • Copies of loan documents are always kept for reference.

Based on the total and permanent disability of the student or his/her death, loan forgiveness can be availed. Without a discount, the variable interest rate ranges from 5.04% annual percentage rate to 10.39% annual percentage rate. And again, without a discount, the fixed rates range from 5.94% APR to 11.26% APR.

Choosing the fixed interest rate will make you pay higher than the variable interest rate. However, for fixed interest, the amount of repayment remains to be the same throughout the plan.

Importance of credit history and cosigner

  • The presence of a cosigner will improve the chance of loan approval.

  • With the cosigner, there are chances that you qualify for a lower interest rate

  • A student would be helped to build and can also establish a credit history 

Tips for improvement

Tips to improve Wells Fargo Student loan Servicing is given below.

  • The term of the loan should be lesser than 15 years

  • Biweekly student loan payments are done through autopay

  • Personalized credit agreements do not affect credit.


Contact details and address

The phone number of Wells Fargo is 1-800-869-3557. 

For online services, contact on - 1-800-956-4442.

For Deaf or Hard of Hearing Customers, the phone number is 1-800-877-4833.

To apply for a student loan, you can call on 1-800-378-5526.

For loan consolidation, call on 1-877-315-7723.

Mailing address - 

Wells Fargo Education Financial Services

P.O. Box 5185

Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5185

To email them, all you have to do in sign up on the website and send your query through a secured line online. 

Official Website - Official link wells Fargo


General information

Making a smart and wise payment can indeed grant you a reduction in the interest rates. Some steps to be taken to reduce the interest rates are as given below.

Below are a few tips to reduce interest rates: 

  • Customer discount – 0.25% interest rate is applied for a prior Wells Fargo Student Loan and qualified Wells Fargo checking account.

  • Automatic Payment – 0.25% interest rate is granted a rate reduction for enrolling in automatic payments.

The amount of loan repayment during the loan’s life period can be reduced by discounts. The monthly payment amount is not always affected by an automatic payment discount. However, the number of payments or the amount of final payment can be affected by it.

Wells Fargo helps in reducing the amount of loan that is borrowed using the tips that are given below.

  • The exact amount required along with the enrollment of the student is verified

  • Funds are accepted on your behalf

  • Once the school receives your funds the remaining funds are distributed to you

The lifetime limit for loans combined with education-related debt is $180,000 for law and business and for the other fields of study, the amount is $120,000.


Frequently Asked Questions

  • 1.How do I start the Wells Fargo student loan process?

    Start by entering your information to find out which private student loan meets your needs. You can also learn more about the process by reading Student Loans Step by Step.

  • 2.Will I need a Co-signer for Wells Fargo Loan?

    A student that meets the income and credit history requirements may qualify on his or her own without a cosigner. A cosigner is not required in order to apply. However, a cosigner may potentially help you qualify for the loan or get a lower interest rate. Undergraduate students typically may need to apply with a creditworthy cosigner in order to meet our income and credit history requirements. Graduate students can often qualify on their own without income.

  • 3.What is a self-certification form?

    The purpose of the federally-required Self-Certification form is to help ensure an applicant does not borrow more than they need when applying for a private student loan. Information required to complete this form includes the total cost of attendance (including tuition, fees, room & board, and more.), an estimated amount of financial aid, and the difference between the total cost of attendance and estimated financial aid.

  • 4.What are my options for a private parent loan?

    The Wells Fargo Student Loan for Parents is an option for parents or sponsors who want to finance their child's college education using a private student loan.