You only need to make one year of on-time repayments to be eligible for Sallie Mae cosigner release. But you won’t be able to qualify unless you’ve finished your degree. And while the application is short, it’s not exactly seamless — you need access to a printer and possibly a scanner.
Can I qualify for Sallie Mae cosigner release?
Make sure you meet Sallie Mae’s criteria before you apply for cosigner release:
Satisfactory repayment history
No forbearance or modified repayment plans
Demonstrated ability to make repayments on your own
Pass a credit check
Proof of graduation
US citizen or permanent resident
Legal age to take out a loan
Satisfactory repayment history
There are a couple of ways you can meet this requirement:
Make 12 full on-time repayments in a row
Prepay the equivalent of 12 months of principal and interest repayments
This doesn’t include the reduced repayments you made while you were in school or during your grace period.
No forbearance or modified repayment plans
Loans in hardship forbearance or on a modified repayment plan like income-driven or graduated repayments can’t qualify.
This requirement isn’t all or nothing: If only some of your Sallie Mae loans are ineligible, you can still apply for cosigner release on the others that qualify.
Demonstrated ability to make repayments on your own
This means you have to show you have a steady income that can cover your repayments. In addition to this, Sallie Mae will ask for details on your monthly expenses in the application.
Pass a credit check
While Sallie Mae doesn’t disclose credit score requirements for cosigner release, you’ll have a better chance of getting approved if you have good to excellent credit.
If you have any negative marks on your credit report, you won’t qualify. This includes:
Open bankruptcies
Open foreclosures
Student loan defaults
Debt repayments that are more than 90 days late in the past two years
Proof of graduation
If you didn’t graduate, you can’t qualify for cosigner release. You must submit documentation to show that you finished your program along with the cosigner release application.
US citizen or permanent resident
International students who became US citizens or permanent residents need to submit proof of their status change.
Legal age to take out a loan in your state
This is 18 in most states, with a few exceptions:
Alabama and Alaska — 19 years old
Mississippi and Puerto Rico — 21 years old
Who can request to remove the cosigner from a Sallie Mae loan?
Only the primary borrower — in most cases, the student — can request a cosigner release. As long as they meet all the requirements, the primary borrower can take a cosigner off any Sallie Mae student loan, including parental loans.
However, there’s little a cosigner can do to take themselves off the loan, other than paying off the full balance.
How to fill out the Sallie Mae cosigner release application
Think you check off all the requirements? Follow these steps to apply for cosigner release:
Step 1: Download the cosigner release application.
Either way, you’ll eventually need to print out the application to date and sign it before submitting it to Sallie Mae.
Step 2: Read over the requirements to qualify for cosigner release.
Double-check the requirements listed on the cosigner release application to make sure you meet all criteria. If you aren’t sure, reach out to customer service by calling 800-472-5543.
Step 3: Fill out the application.
Type or neatly print the following information about yourself on your application form:
Name and date of birth
Social Security number or Sallie Mae account number
Permanent address
Employer name
Position and start date at your job
Work, home and cell phone numbers (fill in all that apply)
Annual salary before taxes
Additional income, such as alimony, child support or income from another job
Monthly housing cost
Monthly car repayment
Monthly student loan repayment
Any other regular monthly debt repayment, like a personal loan
Citizenship status
Cosigner name or names
Finished? Print out the application to sign and date it.
Step 4: Gather required documents to submit with your application.
You need to provide documents to prove you finished your program, verify your income and confirm your citizenship status if it changed since you first took out the loan.
Proof of graduation
Depending on your program, you can submit a copy of one of these documents to prove you graduated:
Diploma
Certificate of completion
Academic transcript
Proof of income
You need to provide at least one of the following documents to verify your income:
Current pay stub issued in the last 90 days
Most recent W2 with a current pay stub
Most recent tax return with a current pay stub
Social Security income or disability award letter
Proof of citizenship
Submit a copy of your certificate of naturalization or other proof of your new citizenship status along with your application.
Step 5: Submit your application to Sallie Mae.
There are three ways you can submit your application:
1. Mail
Mail in your application and copies of your documents to the following address:
Sallie Mae PO Box 3319 Wilmington, DE 19804-4319
2. Fax
Fax your application and documents to Sallie Mae at 844-822-1121.
3. Online
Follow these steps to submit your application online:
Scan the second page of your application and all required documents.
Log in to your account on Sallie Mae’s website.
Go to the Forms page and click Secure Document Upload to upload and submit your application.
I submitted the application. What’s next?
Sallie Mae will review your application and send you a decision. If you qualify, the loan will be transferred into your name. Otherwise, you’ll continue to repay the loan with your cosigner still on it.
Contact Sallie Mae
Sallie Mae has several contact numbers, depending on the nature of your inquiry.
New student loans, call 855-756-5626.
Existing student loans, call 800-472-5543.
For school resources, call 844-827-7478.
Sallie Mae’s customer service lines are open during the following hours:
Monday through Thursday — 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET
Friday — 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET
Saturday — 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET
Can’t qualify? Consider refinancing instead
Another way to remove your cosigner from your student loan is to refinance with another lender. Some lenders have more flexible requirements than Sallie Mae — many don’t require you to have graduated, for example. And you can even bring on a different cosigner to help you qualify if your income or credit aren’t high enough.
Bottom line
Your chances of qualifying for cosigner release are high if you’ve made a year of on-time repayments and have strong credit and income. But you can’t qualify if you have debt from a college program you didn’t finish.
Anna Serio is a lead editor at Finder, specializing in consumer and business financing. A trusted lending expert and former certified commercial loan officer, Anna's written and edited more than 1,000 articles on Finder to help Americans strengthen their financial literacy. Her expertise and analysis on personal, student, business and car loans has been featured in publications like Business Insider, CNBC and Nasdaq, and has appeared on NBC and KADN. Anna holds an MA in Middle Eastern studies from the American University of Beirut and a BA in Creative Writing from Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, CUNY.
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