Choosing the right lender for your Medical Education is an important decision. We recommend that you use the criteria we have outlined on the next page to assist you in determining the best lender for you. These criteria include: the ability to borrow all your educational loans through one lender, grace period, deferment and forbearance options, customer service and borrower benefits. We believe these criteria will assist you in managing your loan portfolio during the demands of medical school, residency, and fellowship.

The Application Process

1. Once you receive your financial aid Award, choose your Stafford Loan Lender (and Guaranty Agency if different from default agency listed with lender, or not on our short list of lenders).
2. Complete the Stafford Loan Master Promissory Note electronically (on-line) with your lender.
3. If your lender participates with ELM, have them send the school certification request to Dartmouth College (school code: 00257300)
   OR
   If your lender does not participate with ELM, have them fax the school certification form to (603) 650-1962. Make sure they include their lender code and guaranty agency code.
4. The Dartmouth Medical School Office of Financial Aid will then certify your loan with the lender of your choice(whether or not your lender appears on our short list of lenders).
5. Your Stafford Loan will be disbursed according to the Disbursement Schedule you received with your Award Letter ONLY if we receive your Master Promissory Note (MPN) by the Deadline listed below. Otherwise, please be advised that your funds may be delayed.

Deadline for submission of Stafford Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN):

• June 1, 2008 - for Years II, III and IV students
• July 1, 2008 - for Year I applicants

Please note that Total Higher Education (T.H.E.) has been forced to drop out of the federal loan lending market until further notice due to adverse market conditions. Should this situation change, we will inform you and add T.H.E. back to our short list.

Short List of Lenders

The Dartmouth Medical School Office of Financial Aid wishes Dartmouth Medical School students to graduate with as little student loan debt as possible and wants to ensure that our students' debt consists of the best student loans available. Given these goals, we have researched Lender options for medical borrowers and we have chosen to list the Lenders we feel will provide our students with the best circumstances for their loan debt and repayment, based upon the following criteria:

1. One-stop shopping capability for all of the types of loans that medical students may need to borrow during their years of medical education from one Lender:
   • Federal Stafford Loans
   • Federal GradPLUS Loans
   • Private Alternative Student Loans and
   • Private Residency/Relocation Loans.
2. Repayment Ability for Medical School Graduates:
   • Grace period, deferment and forbearance options.
   • Medical internship/residency deferment or forbearance options.
   • Length of Repayment.
3. Service to the borrower:
   • Quality of Service.
   • Accessibility of the lender / servicer.

Relevant Definitions

ELM
ELM acts as the intermediary between the Lender and Dartmouth College, processing loan disbursements received electronically from lenders who participate in electronic fund transfer.

Servicer
A servicer is a company hired by the lender to assist with the work of the loans; i.e. processing forms, billing, collecting payments, etc.

Guaranty Agency/Guarantor
A guarantor is an agency that will reimburse a lender for defaulted loans and may offer its own borrower benefits, in addition to those of the lender. If you decide to use one of the lenders on this list, be advised that Dartmouth College has set up a specific guarantee agency for each lender as noted beside each lender on our list. The guarantee agencies were chosen based on customer service and borrower benefits. If you wish to use a different guarantee agency, let your lender and the DMS Financial Aid Office know of your decision. The Dartmouth Medical School Office of Financial Aid will certify each of your loans with the guarantor of your choice, as long as we have a servicing agreement with your choice of lender.

Dartmouth Medical School Short List of Lenders*
(All participate with ELM)

YOU MAY BORROW STUDENT LOANS FROM ANY LENDER OF YOUR CHOICE AND ARE NOT LIMITED TO THE SELECTIONS LISTED ON THIS WEBSITE.

In an effort to provide medical borrowers with more options and better choices than just randomly searching all of the lending options available, the lenders listed below are also viable lenders for medical school borrowers. By providing more than just our top choices, we hope to give our borrowers an informative and unbiased list from which to choose your lender.

*Please note that this list may change at any time. Due to changing market conditions some of these lenders may no longer be participating in the federal loan programs. This list is accurate as of April 9, 2008.

For a more complete list of national and regional education lenders, please visit slbg.greentreegazette.com/gtree.

For general financial aid information from the Federal website, please visit www.studentaid.ed.gov.

Return to Financial Aid Office