Funding for Aus med studies other than US fed loans?

[jaketheory]

I may end up at an Aus med school that cannot distribute US federal loans. If there is anyone that currently attends or is planning to attend an Aus med school and also not planning to fund their studies with US fed loans, could you please comment about what you know is available as far as private loans. I've looked at Aus banks and they generally seem to have an upper borrowing limit of 25k AUD, have an interest rate ~18%, do not defer repayment til graduation, and require full repayment within ~5 years. This would not really work for me. I'm thinking US private loans would be a much better deal, but with this ****ty economy, they may not even be available. Can anyone share any info regarding funding Aus med studies entirely by private loans?

cheers.

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[shan564]

Try Sallie Mae; last time I checked, they were still offering loans to med students going overseas. Their interest rates might be a bit higher than the federal loans, but it's nowhere near 18%.

Also, you might want to try asking some of the Caribbean students what they're doing. There are a lot more of them, so there are probably a few who have had to get private loans for some reason or another.

 

[redshifteffect]

I just had a quick look and here is one from NAB:

http://www.nab.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/nab/nab/home/personal_finance/3/4/3

You can borrow upto 20K and defer the loan for upto 5 years, and the interest rate isn't great (13.5%) but it's better then 18%.

Have you tried credit unions? They may offer better terms then the big 4? Regardless the fiancial crisis is affecting the loan situation here as well.

 

[JanikeyDoc]

I may end up at an Aus med school that cannot distribute US federal loans. If there is anyone that currently attends or is planning to attend an Aus med school and also not planning to fund their studies with US fed loans, could you please comment about what you know is available as far as private loans. I've looked at Aus banks and they generally seem to have an upper borrowing limit of 25k AUD, have an interest rate ~18%, do not defer repayment til graduation, and require full repayment within ~5 years. This would not really work for me. I'm thinking US private loans would be a much better deal, but with this ****ty economy, they may not even be available. Can anyone share any info regarding funding Aus med studies entirely by private loans?

cheers.

TERI used to be the top provider for Australian and other offshore schools, they shut down way before the credit crunch hit in 2007. You can get Stafford and GradPlus, if you got a PR I think you can get help from the Australian government. If you really can you should try for schools in Brisbane or Adelaide, the cost of living in Sydney can be astronomical, and its not a good environment for students.