Additional Student Loan Options
Private Loans
Private loans may assist with college expenses that may not be covered by federal
loan programs or other financial aid. Private loans are offered by a number of lenders
but typically are credit-based, and they may have higher interest rates and fees than
federal loans.
Private loans which must be certified by the College can be certified for a maximum
of the student's estimated cost of attendance, as indicated on the student's financial
aid award letter, minus other aid the student will be receiving for the academic year.
Mills College does not have a list of preferred private lenders. The College has no
preference regarding a student's choice of lender. The College does not have special
business relationships with any student loan providers and does not receive financial
benefits from any lenders.
Exit Counseling
Exit loan counseling is mandatory for all students who have received a Mills College
loan. This process is separate from the exit counseling for Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and Federal Perkins Loans.
Fall graduates: Students must visit the Financial Counselor website between November 28 and December 13 to complete the required Mills loan exit documents
online.
Spring graduates: Students must visit the Financial Counselor website between April 24 and May 12 to complete the required Mills loan exit documents online.
Until the loan exit documents are completed and delivered to the Office of Financial
Aid, graduating students with Mills loans will have a hold placed on their record
that restricts access to College services including transcript processing and diploma
distribution.
Mills College Financial Aid Office Student Loan Code of Conduct
- Ban on Financial Ties: Lenders are prohibited from giving anything of value to any
college in exchange for any advantage sought by the lender. This severs any inappropriate
financial arrangements between lenders and schools and specifically prohibits "revenue
sharing" agreements.
- Ban on Payments for Preferred Lender Status: Lenders may not pay or give colleges
any financial benefits whatsoever to get on a college's preferred lender list.
- Gift and Trip Prohibition: Lenders are prohibited from giving college employees anything
of more than nominal value. This includes a prohibition on trips for financial aid
officers and other college officials paid for by lenders.
- Advisory Board Rules: Lenders are prohibited from paying college employees anything
of value for serving on the advisory boards of the lenders.
- Call-Center and Staffing Prohibition: Lenders must ensure that employees of lenders
never identify themselves to students as employees of the colleges. No employee of
a lender may ever work in or provide staffing assistance for a college financial aid
office.
- Disclosure of Range of Rates and Defaults: Lenders must disclose to any requesting
school the range of rates they charge to students at the school, the number of borrowers
at each rate at the school, and the lender's historic default rate at the school.
This will ensure that schools will have the information they need to select preferred
lenders who are best for students and parents.
- Loan Resale Disclosure: Lenders shall fully and prominently disclose to students and
their parents any agreements they have to sell loans to any lender.