Sallie Mae Student Loans & Student Loan Consolidation Programs
If you have ever talked to anyone about Sallie Mae then you probably know what is coming in this installment. I'll talk about the good and bad related to taking any type of loan from the GIANT lender we call Sallie Mae.
Believe-it-or-not the first 5 results you get when you Google "Sallie Mae reviews" is the Sallie Mae blog talking about how 9 out of 10 borrowers give them strong reviews. Bologna plain and simple. Sallie Mae put some time and effort into making sure that is the first thing you see when you search those keywords....that's about all that it means.
One thing about Sallie Mae that no one can dispute is that they are huge. Good, bad, or indifferent it's the truth. I argue that it is both good and bad. It's great to have the solidity and the resources that a large lender offers and sometimes it just makes people feel more comfortable with the entire process to use a name that they have heard of. On the other hand I think that there is more bad then good. Horrendous wait times for customer service reps much less than personal service hinder this monolith student loan and student loan consolidation lender.
Sallie Mae is going to be cutting benefits for unsubsidized loans just like everyone else and in my opinion the services and perks offered are pretty normal in comparison to other large lenders. Sacrificing customer service and spending hours on hold is not something I enjoy and when I consider that the actual services offered aren't much different from the other major lenders I know I wouldn't borrow from Sallie Mae again. I would choose a smaller student loan lender that could offer more personal service and an effective customer service solution.
