Alternative loans can provide up to 100% financial aid (covering tuition, fees, campus housing, and meals). Loan payments are not required until after you graduate, and then you make low monthly payments. 

Alternative Loans require a loan cosigner who is a US permanent resident or citizen. If you do not have a co-signer, you are still eligible for the Computer Professionals Program Loan.

There are two ways to use an Alternative Loan:

Option 1: Use an Alternative Loan to cover the amount due at the time of registration, and use the Computer Professionals Loan (taken after you are placed in a U.S. practical training job) to cover the balance of your program costs. See description of Computer Professionals Loan for details. There is no tuition reduction under this option.

Option 2: Use an Alternative Loan to cover your full program costs at the time of enrolling. Under this option you will receive a tuition reduction of US $1,000.

Note: Tuition, other charges, and financial policies are subject to change prior to the entry date.

Features of an Alternative Loan 

• Low monthly payments
  
• No loan payments until 6 months after you graduate
  
• Interest rates are variable and depend on credit history
  
• You have up to 20 years to repay (you can chose a shorter repayment term)
  

IMPORTANT NOTE:

When applying for your student visa, you are not permitted to use the Alternative Loan (even if it is approved in advance) as evidence that you or your sponsor can pay the initial amount due upon your arrival at the University. You must provide other evidence that either you or a sponsor are able to pay the initial amount without the Alternative Loan. This is because the funds from the loan are not dispersed to the university more than one week before the date of enrollment. The U.S. immigration office does not recognize the loan as payment of your expenses until the funds are actually secured after registration.

Therefore you or your sponsor must (a) sign an affidavit of support, and (b) provide a bank statement showing that you are able to pay the initial amount due upon your arrival at the University without the Alternative Loan. If you are paying your entire program expenses through an Alternative Loan you will need to provide a bank statement verifying the availability of US $5,315 at registration. If you are using an Alternative Loan to cover only the intial amount due at registration, you will need to provide a bank statement verifying the availability of the initial amount due (listed at on the Computer Professionals Loan page) plus $800 for personal expenses (which is not paid to the University).

NOTE: You will not need to actually pay the extra funds to the University at registration if the Alternative Loan has been disbursed to the University before you arrive.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ALTERNATIVE LOANS:

1. All international students must have a loan co-signer under the Alternative Loan programs. No exceptions are permitted by the lenders.
2. The co-signer must be a US permanent resident or citizen who will accept responsibility for the loan in event of default. The co-signer can be a relative or any other person who has an acceptable credit record in the US.
3. You can apply for the Alternative Loan after you have received acceptance to the Computer Professionals Program.
4. Lenders can normally finalize loans within a few days of receiving the loan application and co-signer information. 
5. See Frequently Asked Alternative Loan Questions at the bottom of this page.

Students are responsible for all travel costs between their country and the campus in Fairfield, Iowa, and any travel within the U.S. for the duration of the program. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

If I cannot arrange a co-signer who is a US permanent resident US citizen, can I still get financial aid to join the Computer Professionals Program?
Yes! All students who are accepted to the program receive up to 91% financial aid on the CP Loan Program. 

How can I get an Alternative Loan without a co-signer?
Ther are no exceptions to the policy that requires a co-signer for all Alternative Loans to international students. 

Can the co-signer be a person in my home country, or someone in the US who is not a permanent resident or citizen?
No. The co-signer must be a U.S. permanent resident or citizen. 

When do I need to begin making monthly payments on the loan?
You can begin making loan payments 6 months after you complete your education. Interest will accrue from the time the loan is issued. 

Can I have a repayment term of less than 15 years?
Yes, you can a specify a shorter term at the time of taking out the loan, or change it to a shorter term later. 

When can I apply for the AlternativeLoan?
You can apply after you have been accepted to the Computer Professionals Program. 

Can I take out an Alternative Loan from any bank?

You may use any educational loan available from banks in the United States who accept a U.S. citizen as a cosigner for International students enrolled at colleges in the United States. The most popular alternative loan used by International students attending Maharishi University of Management is the CitiAssist Loan by CitiBank.

What are the cosigner requirements for a CitiAssist Loan?

Satisfactory credit history with at least 12 months charging/repaying
No bankruptcies, liens, judgements, charge-offs, excessive delinquencies
Verifiable income of at least $18,000 per year
Debt-to-credit ratio less than 45%
Cosigner must be a US Citizen

How do I apply for a CitiAssist Loan?
Go to www.citiassist.com
Click on "Apply Now"
Select "IA" for the state the school is located in
Type "Maha" for the school's name
Select "graduate"
Follow the instructions.
Call CitiAssist at 800-967-2400 for application questions

Does the application require a US address?
Yes. Use the address of your US Citizen cosigner.

How long does it take for the loan to be finalized?
You will receive a response as soon as you have supplied all the application requirements. The University will usually receive the loan funds within 1-2 weeks of the finalized loan.

What other types of Alternative Loans are available?
You may use any educational loan available for International students attending colleges in the United States. For instance, US Bank GAP loan has a lower interest rate. It also has an up-front fee of 4% to 8% depending on the credit history of the cosigner.

The up-front fee is deducted from your loan disbursement. So if you need $6,000 and your up front fee is 8%, you must borrow $6,522. When the CitiAssist loan has a fee (depending on the credit history) that fee is added to the repayment, so the amount you need is the same as the amount you must borrow.

Example 1: $6,000 Alternative Loan with 15 year repayment after one year of studies:

Example 2: $25,000 Alternative Loan with 15 year repayment after one year of studies

Interest rates are variable; chart is for comparison purpose only, based on data as of April 2008.

Repayment amounts assume borrower will take advantage of any available reductions such as auto-debit interest reduction.

You may use any lender and any loan. These lenders are merely those who actively send representatvies to visit our campus.