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finder.com’s rating: 4.5 / 5.0
★★★★★
3.75% to 5.75%
APR
670
Min. Credit Score
Product Name | MEFA Undergraduate Loans |
---|---|
Minimum Loan Amount | $2,000 |
APR | 3.75% to 5.75% |
Interest Rate Type | Fixed |
Minimum Loan Term | 10 years |
Maximum Loan Term | 15 years |
Requirements | 670+ credit score, $2,100+ monthly income, enrolled at least half time at a degree-granting nonprofit school, maintain satisfactory academic progress, either be a MA resident, have a coborrower who lives in MA or go to college in MA |
Review by
Anna Serio is a trusted lending expert and certified Commercial Loan Officer who's published more than 1,000 articles on Finder to help Americans strengthen their financial literacy. A former editor of a newspaper in Beirut, Anna writes about personal, student, business and car loans. Today, digital publications like Business Insider, CNBC and the Simple Dollar feature her professional commentary, and she earned an Expert Contributor in Finance badge from review site Best Company in 2020.
The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) undergraduate student loans are geared toward students who live or go to school in Massachusetts and have run out of federal aid. Its rates are comparable to what you’d find with federal loans — sometimes even lower if you have excellent credit. You can also apply with up to two coborrowers to increase your chances of approval.
However, it doesn’t offer any formal forbearance or deferment programs if you decide to go back to school or lose your job. And it’s one of the few student loan providers that charges an origination fee.
Not sold on MEFA? Check out our list of other lenders to see if there might be a better fit for you.
To be eligible for a MEFA undergraduate student loan, you must:
You or your primary coborrower must also meet MEFA’s credit requirements:
MEFA is a direct nonprofit lender that offers private student loans to help cover your undergraduate education costs when federal loans fall short. Loans start at $2,000 for private school students and $1,500 for public school students.
Unlike most other private student loan providers, MEFA encourages students to apply with up to two coborrowers to help you meet the credit requirements and share the responsibility of paying back the loan. You can complete the application online in a few minutes with your coborrowers, though it can take a month or so before your school gets its funds.
The main cost to worry about with MEFA student loans is the APR, which includes interest and fees. MEFA only offers fixed-rate loans to undergraduate students, which come with a 4% origination fee if you apply with a coborrower or 7% if you apply on your own.
However, unlike most other lenders, MEFA can charge a lower rate while you’re in school, and raise it after graduation or if you leave school. On top of this, it offers a different range of rates for different repayment plans and terms. Here’s how it works:
Repayment plan and term | Interest rate | Starting APR range |
---|---|---|
10-year immediate repayment | Fixed interest rates as low as 3.95% | 3.95% to 5.95% |
15-year immediate repayment | Fixed interest rates as low as 4.25% | 4.25% to 6.20% |
15-year interest-only repayment | Fixed interest rates as low as 5.45% | 5.45% to 7.30% |
15-year deferred repayment | Fixed interest rates as low as 5.75% | 5.49% to 7.09% |
15-year deferred repayment with coborrower release | Fixed Interest rates as low as 5.95% | 5.67% to 7.26% |
No. While it’s common for student loan providers to offer a rate discount for signing up for automatic repayments, MEFA doesn’t.
MEFA offers four different repayment plans, depending on your needs:
No, there aren’t any deferment or forbearance options after you start making your full repayments.
MEFA’s undergraduate student loans offer several benefits, including:
Consider these potential drawbacks when deciding if a MEFA undergraduate student loan is right for you:
Borrowers don’t have much to say about the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority. This isn’t much of a surprise, given the limited pool of students it serves. But it makes it difficult to judge the quality of customer service.
The one negative review might not actually have to do with MEFA as much as its former loan servicer Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). The one review was a complaint from a mother who’s daughter had borrowed from MEFA as an undergraduate and was struggling to pay off her loans while attending graduate school.
Go to other forums and you’ll find similar stories. In fact, CBS Boston even ran a news story about how ACS hadn’t properly applied repayments toward some borrowers’ loan principals or charged inconsistent repayments. Now, MEFA partners with American Education Services to handle loan repayments.
You can apply for a MEFA undergraduate student loan online or over the phone by calling 800-266-0243. Follow these steps to get started online:
After you finish the online application, MEFA typically asks borrowers and coborrowers to upload relevant documents, such as recent pay stubs. At this point, it reviews your application and gives you a choice between several different offers with different repayment plans.
Pick the offer that best suits your needs and sign your loan documents. MEFA will work with your school to disburse your funds by the beginning of the semester.
MEFA is a nonprofit state-chartered organization that offers several other resources to help Massachusetts students and families pay for higher education, including:
To find out how MEFA stacks up to other lenders out there, read our student loans guide.
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
We rate student loan providers on a scale of 1 to 5 stars based on factors like transparency, costs and customer experience. We don’t take into account elements like eligibility criteria, state availability or payment frequency — we save that for our reviews.