Graduate and Professional Student Loans

Graduate students who are U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible for all education loan programs. International students may borrow from private sources through the alternative loan programs MIT offers, but not from federal programs. If you are a graduate student at the Sloan School of Management, click here for loans.

Student loans based on need

Because these loans are based on financial need, you must file a financial aid application to be considered.

• Federal Direct Stafford Subsidized Loan
• Federal Perkins Loan

Student loans not based on need

You have to apply for these loans, but there are no financial need guidelines to qualify. Government loans you may qualify the Federal Direct Stafford Unsubsidized Loan and the Federal Direct PLUS Loan. Many private lenders also offer student loans with a different conditions and interest rates. MIT does not recommend or favor any private loan programs, so it’s up to borrowers to do their own research and decide which loan(s) are best for them. Some of the alternative loans more commonly used by MIT graduate students include:

• MEFA graduate loan
• Sallie Mae Signature Student Loan
• Citibank CitiAssist Loan
• CitiAssist Custom Loan Program for MIT Sloan School of Management Students (for graduate students in the Sloan School's M.B.A., Ph.D., Leaders for Manufacturing, and Sloan Fellows programs)
• CitiAssist Custom Loan Program for MIT International Students