Welcome to Financial Aid at The Evergreen State College.

The Financial Aid staff at Evergreen is happy to provide you with the tools necessary to make informed decisions regarding your student loans. Our partnership with SimpleTuition through NELA is a big part of our commitment to excellent customer service.

If you are a first time borrower at Evergreen, you must complete online loan counseling before you choose a lender and sign your online Master Promissory Note.

This student loan comparison tool includes Stafford, PLUS and Grad PLUS loans. We hope that you use the tools provided to help you better understand your student loan options.

Please call our office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Julie Anderson
Interim Director of Financial Aid
The Evergreen State College

Lender List Rationale

To help you with the selection process, this site presents a list of loans in an interactive format.

Borrowers can choose any Stafford/PLUS lender that participates in the Federal Family Education Loan program and any lender for a private loan, even if they are not listed here. The Financial Aid Office encourages borrowers to compare lenders to make an informed choice.

Evergreen State College carefully reviews lenders’ policies and products every two years to find the best rates and service among student loan lenders for our students.

To assist families in this decision, the Financial Aid Office compiled a list of institutions who we consider excellent in the education lending field. By choosing one of these lenders, you will have the benefit of electronic loan processing through Education Loan Management (ELM). We have found each of these lenders to provide prompt reconciliation of loan issues. They also provide fast electronic payment of loan funds, via the National Disbursement Network (NDN), directly to your Evergreen student account. These lenders also offer a variety of savings programs during loan repayment.

How was this list developed?

Recently, there has been a great deal of discussion regarding how lenders are chosen by financial aid offices. The Evergreen State College Financial Aid Office is committed to choosing lenders who have a proven track record in the student loan industry and who provide good service and benefits to our students. We strive to keep our list consistent and do not add or delete lenders without just cause. Reasons for a lender to be removed from the School Approved Lender List can include, but are not limited to significant student and parent complaints concerning customer service and change in borrower benefits. Lenders are asked to provide information regarding their services via a Request for Information (RFI).

The lenders’ responses to the RFI are ranked using our criteria. These rankings and the responses to the RFIs are examined by a committee and approved by the Director of Financial Aid.

Evergreen continues to provide students and their families with a School Approved Lender List despite current concerns regarding such lists because we believe that it is helpful to our students, who often request guidance in the selection of a lender. This interactive list is intended as a guide only.

Please feel free to contact the Financial Aid Office if you have any questions about the process or the lenders selected.