Best private student loans for medical school of 2026

Fortune has compiled a short list of our selections for the best private student loans for med school to help you understand your options.

Best private student loans for medical school of July 2026

Lender details checked June 30, 2026.

Best for maximum flexibility: Sallie Mae

Sallie Mae is one of the best ways to privately fund medical school thanks to the many options it gives borrowers. For example, subject to approval, you can receive funding for the entirety of your medical schooling, no matter how expensive. Sallie Mae doesn’t enforce a maximum limit on school-certified expenses.

You’ll also receive up to 20 years to repay your loan—among the longest in the industry. Sallie Mae even offers a residency relocation loan for those who have completed (or are in the last year of) med school and want to finance the many costs associated with traveling for interviews, moving, licensing exams, etc.

These features aren’t terribly uncommon in the private student loan world, but it’s rare to see all of them offered by a single lender. Read our Sallie Mae student loans review for more details.

Best for rewards and discounts: SoFi

SoFi® Private Student Loans

Maximum loan amount

Up to 100% of school-certified expenses

• Year Founded: 2011
• Company Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
• CEO: Anthony Noto

SoFi is another lender that enforces no cap on the amount of school-certified expenses it will cover. Its max loan term is also 20 years, which can help to lower the monthly payment associated with an education that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In our analysis, SoFi by no means offers the lowest APR on the market. However, it does give you opportunities to lower your interest with activities like a 0.25% autopay discount and a 0.125% member rate discount. As of this writing, there’s an extra 0.25% rate discount available when you apply by Sept. 3, 2026.

SoFi also confers Member Rewards that you can redeem toward your medical school loan. You earn rewards for “smart money moves,” such as paying bills on time and improving your credit score. Read our SoFi student loans review for more details.

Best for multi-year approval: College Ave

College Ave

Maximum loan amount

$500,000

• Year founded: 2014
• Company Headquarters: Wilmington, DE
• CEO: Joe DePaulo

College Ave is another strong med school lender thanks to its 20-year term option and its residency relocation loan option. And while it does cap its medical school borrowing amount at $500,000, we think relatively few borrowers will find that to be a problem.

It also offers a “Multi-Year Peace of Mind” program, which reduces the hassle of reapplying for your loan each year. Yes, you’ll have to resubmit annually because it requires a separate credit check. But Multi-Year Peace of Mind makes this renewal largely procedural. That’s not the case with most lenders.

Best for low minimum APR: Abe

Abe.

Maximum loan amount

$500,000

• Year founded: 2024
• Company Headquarters: Mechanicsburg, PA
• CEO: Seth Gelber

Abe is another lender that offers up to 20 years for you to repay your medical school debt with a maximum borrowing amount capped at what we think is a typically sufficient $500,000.

Plus, Abe also has one of the lowest minimum APRs we’ve seen among private student lenders. The lowest rate shown as of this writing is an incredible 2.50%. (This includes a 0.25% discount for enrolling in autopay.)

But Abe also states it’s possible to get a further 0.25% interest rate reduction for making on-time principal and interest payments during the repayment terms. Your rate would drop by 0.05% for every six consecutive on-time monthly payments of principal and interest you make, up to the maximum 0.25% (except during deferment or forbearance periods, which won’t benefit from this reduction).

Best for low maximum APR: Citizens Bank

Citizens Bank

Maximum loan amount

$400,000

• Year founded: 1871
• Company Headquarters: Providence, Rhode Island
• CEO: Bruce Van Saun

In some ways, Citizens Bank is less flexible than online lenders. Its maximum borrowing amount for med school is $400,000; its maximum loan term is 15 years; it doesn’t offer a residency relocation loan.

But when it comes to maximum APR, its offering is superior.

Citizens Bank charges, at most, an interest rate of 8.78%. That’s far below the other contenders on our list—and rivals the lowest private student loan rate you’ll find anywhere. It’s also one of the rare lenders that, similar to College Ave, offers multi-year approval.

What is a private student loan for medical school?

A private student loan for medical school helps you to fund your medical degree without requesting federal funding. You instead borrow the money from a bank, credit union, or online lender. Private student loans like this require good credit history, either from you or a cosigner. Your creditworthiness plays a big role in the interest rate you receive, as well.

Depending on the lender and your specific program costs, it may be possible to fund your entire schooling with a private student loan. However, they’re more commonly used as a secondary loan in addition to federal funding (we’ll explain why in a minute).

Is a private student loan for med school a good idea?

A private student loan for medical school can be a great idea. But it’s usually best to apply for all the federal funding you can get first. Federal loans have mandatory protections that private student loans typically don’t, namely:

• Subsidized interest: If you’re eligible, the government will pay any interest while you’re still in school, as well as during the grace period after you leave school and during certain deferment periods.
• Income-driven repayment (IDR): Federal student loans decide what you’ll pay each month based on factors like income and family size. If you’re suddenly making less money here and there during your loan term, your monthly payment will decrease to match your situation.
• Loan forgiveness and cancellation: A federal loan can potentially be erased if you use income-driven repayment for the full agreed-upon repayment term but still have a balance at the end.

Whatever your specific medical school expenses, you likely won’t be able to cover them entirely with federal student loans. A private student loan can help you finance whatever you owe beyond your federal student loan.

Pros and cons of private student loans for medical school

Pros:

• The most creditworthy borrowers may receive a lower interest rate than federal student loans
• Fund any school-certified expenses that federal funding won’t cover
• Pause payments during medical school and, with some lenders, through residency

Cons:

• Typically fewer hardship programs
• To qualify, you must have at least a good credit score (or a cosigner with good credit)
• Those without an excellent credit score may pay more interest than with a federal student loan

How to find the right private student loan for medical school

It’s simple to find the right private student loan for your medical program by focusing on the following elements.

Interest rates

A medical school loan’s interest rate determines the price you’ll pay for the loan. Your interest rate can be the difference between whether a med school loan is affordable or not.

For example, let’s say you’ve got a 20-year loan of $350,000. Assuming you pay the minimum amount each month, here’s an estimate what you could expect to pay:

• At 4.00% APR — $159,023.48 in total interest ($2,120.93 per month)
• At 4.50% APR — $181,425.48 in total interest ($2,214.27 per month)

As you can see, just a 0.50% difference results in more than $20,000 in interest—and a nearly $100 difference in monthly minimum payments. This is why it’s so important to find the absolute lowest interest rate you can qualify for.

Maximum loan term

Similar to a loan’s interest rates, your loan term options can be the difference between affording a med school loan and not.

Longer loan terms mean lower minimum monthly payments. A lender that offers 15 years to repay a loan is less advantageous for you than another lender offering 20 years. It’s typically wise to take the longest loan term to get the lowest monthly payment—and then pay extra each month as you can afford it.

Maximum loan amount

Medical school programs are some of the most expensive degrees you can chase. Again, federal student loans typically won’t pick up the entire tab. But some lenders let you cover every dime of your school certified expenses—with no hard cap.

Choose a lender willing to extend to you the full remaining balance after you’ve exhausted your federal aid. Or, if federal aid is off the table for you, make sure the private student loan will cover your entire cost of schooling so you’ve only got one minimum payment each month.

Residency deferment

Your medical schooling doesn’t end at graduation; you’ve still got residency ahead of you, which can last anywhere from three to seven years. You won’t be making the big bucks yet.

For this reason, some private lenders allow you to postpone full loan payments until after you complete your residency. Interest will keep accruing, but you won’t have the burden of making costly medical student loan payments while money is already tight. Look for a lender that offers this option. You don’t have to use it if you later decide that you’d like to chip away at interest right away.

Residency relocation loans

Residency potentially comes with a slew of costs—from interview trips to licensing exam fees to upfront rent costs for a new apartment to all the little expenses associated with moving. You could be staring at several thousand dollars in bills before you even begin earning a paycheck.

A residency relocation loan is a type of medical student loan offered by select lenders to cover these costs. They typically allow fourth‑year medical students to apply in their last year of school (or within 12 months after graduating). Some lenders may require that you already have a relationship with them to qualify.

How to qualify for a private student loan for medical school

To qualify for a private graduate student loan, there are a few specifics the lender wants to see:

• Credit score: Most medical students in their mid-to-late 20s likely don’t have a robust credit history. Private lenders want to see responsible borrowing behavior. If your credit file is thin, you may need a cosigner with good credit.
• Enrollment at an eligible school: Not every medical school is on every lender’s list of approved institutions. It’s worth investigating before you formally apply to confirm that your school qualifies.
• Debt-to-income ratio (DTI): DTI isn’t the primary gatekeeper when it comes to med school loans, but it’s good practice to keep non-student debt low, anyway. As a med student, you likely have undergrad loans and aren’t currently earning much during school. Lenders know this, and many offer programs that account for the fact that residents and attending physicians earn very differently.

Our methodology

Fortune focused on a handful of important factors that dictate the best private lender for medical school loans. Here’s how we weighed each component:

• Maximum loan amount (20%): Some lenders offer up to 100% of your school-certified expenses, no matter how much it costs—while others enforce maximum borrowing amounts.
• Minimum APR (25%): Each lender’s lowest advertised rate was considered to give the most creditworthy borrowers (or those using a cosigner with excellent credit) an idea of how cost-effective a loan can be.
• Maximum APR (15%): Knowing the highest advertised rate by each lender is most useful for those with less-than stellar credit to know the maximum they might pay. The lower the number, the higher each lender scored in our ranking.
• Maximum loan term (20%): The more time you’ve got to repay your student loan, the better.
• Residency deferment period (10%): Many lenders allow you to temporarily postpone (or greatly reduce) your student loan payments during your time in a medical residency program.
• Residency relocation (10%): Financial institutions that offer residency relocation loans scored higher for offering more med school-related options.

Frequently asked questions

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