Brazos Private Student Loans: 2025 Review

Brazos Snapshot

Brazos is a non-profit lender that offers private student loans and student loan refinancing. Since it was launched in 1975, Brazos has focused on bringing transparency and low-cost loans to Texas residents. While Brazos private student loans are only available to borrowers who are residents of, or students in, Texas, the non-profit lender offers a wide range of options for undergraduate, graduate, MBA, law, medical, dental veterinary, or doctoral students, as well as parents. Accordingly, it’s best if you live, or attend school, in Texas, have strong credit, and want competitive interest rates.

Fixed APR Range: 2.71% to 6.86%

Variable APR Range: 5.32% to 9.47%

Loan Amounts: $1,000 up to the total cost of attendance, minus other aid received

Minimum Credit Score: 720

Best Features	Drawbacks
• Work with a non-profit, rather than a traditional lender • Competitive interest rates • Offers up to 12 months of forbearance	• Strict eligibility criteria • Limited repayment options • No cosigner release  • No bi-weekly payment via autopay

What’s Inside

• Interest Rates, Fees, and Terms
• Eligibility Requirements – Financial
• Eligibility Requirements – Personal
• Repayment Options
• Customer Service
• FAQ

Compare Brazos to other Student Loans:

Rather than searching for lenders one-by-one, we recommend starting the process with an automated student loan search tool. To do so, we suggest you use the free Sparrow application to see the rates and terms you’d qualify for with 17+ premier lenders. 

Here are Brazos’ rates in comparison to other top lenders:

Best Features of Brazos Student Loans

Work with a non-profit, rather than a traditional lender

Brazos is a Texas nonprofit student loan company that has been helping Texas families finance the cost of their college education for over 40 years. Brazos is not affiliated with any school. As a non-profit, its goal is to save you money by offering the most competitive rates possible. While Brazos doesn’t have the name recognition that some of the traditional banks and online lenders have, it offers low rates and personalized customer service.

>> MORE: Compare your private student loan rates across 17+ lenders

Competitive interest rates and zero fees for qualified borrowers

When looking for a student loan, finding a low-interest rate is typically a top priority. If you qualify for a Brazos student loan, you’ll have access to competitive interest rates, and won’t have to pay origination fees, application fees, prepayment penalties, late fees, or insufficient funds fees. 

>> MORE: What is the average student loan interest rate?

	Undergraduate	Graduate, MBA, Law, Medical, Dental, Veterinary, and Doctoral Students
Fixed APR*	2.71% to 6.86%	Starts at 2.71%
Variable APR*	5.32% to 9.47%	Starts at 5.32%

Offers up to 12 months of forbearance due to economic hardship, natural disaster or military duty 

If you experience economic hardship or a natural disaster or are called up for active-duty military service, Brazos offers up generous forbearance options (a pause on your repayment due to financial hardship, unemployment, or a disability). 

Brazos offers up to 12 months of forbearance, in three-month increments. While Brazos handles forbearance on a case-by-case basis, it can be a helpful safety net if you were to fall into financial hardship.

>> MORE: Student loan forbearance: What it is & how to get it

Drawbacks of Brazos Student Loans

Strict eligibility criteria

In order to qualify for a private student loan through Brazos, borrowers must meet the following criteria:

1. A U.S. citizen, permanent resident or, if applying with an eligible cosigner, a non-citizen with a work or student visa, or a DACA recipient
2. Be a resident of, or student in, the State of Texas
3. At least 18 years old
4. Enrolled at least half-time in a degree-granting program
5. Have a credit score of 720 (or apply with a cosigner who does)
6. Have an annual income of $60,000-plus, or $30,000 if applying with a cosigner

Don’t live, or attend school, in Texas? Then complete our 2-minute form to see if you qualify and at what rate with over 15 different lenders. Doing so is quick, easy, and does not impact your credit score.

Don’t have a credit score of 720? Then look into Ascent and Funding U (they offer future income-based loans that don’t have a credit requirement).

>> MORE: How and where to get a private student loan with bad credit

Don’t have an annual income of $60,000? Then SoFi is a great option (it has no income requirement.) In addition, Ascent and Funding U offer future income-based loans that don’t have an income requirement.

Limited repayment options

Brazos only offers two repayment options on its private student loans: Immediate Repayment and Deferred Repayment. Compared to other online lenders that offer up to four repayment options, Brazos’ repayment options may seem limited. 

>> MORE: The best student loan repayment plans

Check out the table below to understand the difference between Brazos’ student loan repayment options: 1.) Immediate Repayment and 2.) Deferred Repayment. 

Repayment Option	Terms	Pros	Cons
Immediate Repayment	Make full payments as soon as the loan is disbursed, while you’re still in school.	You will minimize the interest you pay, resulting in the greatest savings. Because you’re paying down both interest and principal while you’re still in school, you’ll already have made a good start on repaying your loan by the time you graduate.	For many students, it’s not realistic to make full monthly payments while still enrolled in college.
Deferred Repayment	Don’t make any payments while you’re in school. Begin repayment after graduation or 6 months after graduation.	You won’t have to make payments while you’re in school.	You will likely pay the highest overall cost since unpaid interest will be added to your principal amount at the end of your grace period.

No cosigner release 

Most private student lenders require or strongly encourage you to apply with a cosigner. Given that young people generally have no / limited credit history, a cosigner can help you qualify for better loan terms. 

Many private student lenders allow you to release your cosigner after a few years of timely payments (typically 1-2 years). This essentially means that the cosigner is no longer liable for repaying the loan in the event that you (the borrower) are unable to make payments. 

While becoming a cosigner can be daunting, the cosigner release policy is meant to ease the burden and make it less risky. 

Unfortunately, Brazos does not offer any form of cosigner release. Instead, you will have to apply for a new loan through Brazos. 

>> MORE: What is a cosigner release policy? How can it protect you?

No biweekly payment via autopay

When you repay your student loan, your payments are due monthly by default. Instead, some borrowers choose to make biweekly payments via autopay — where you automatically pay half your monthly amount once every two weeks. In addition, many borrowers use biweekly autopay in an effort to pay off their student debt faster and pay less in interest over the lifetime of the loan. 

Unfortunately, when you borrow through Brazos, you don’t have the option to make biweekly payments via autopay. 

You do, however, have the option to make greater-than-minimum payments via autopay. This means you have the option to pay more than your monthly balance in order to reduce the interest that accrues over time. With Brazos, you can set this up automatically so that the desired monthly payment is drawn from your bank account at the end of each month.

>> MORE: Compare your private student loan rates across 17+ lenders

Brazos Student Loans: The Nuts and Bolts

Interest Rates, Fees, and Terms

Fixed APR Range	2.71% to 6.86%
Variable APR Range	5.32% to 9.47%
Loan Terms	5, 7, 10, 15, or 20 years.
Loan Amounts	$1,000 up to the total cost of attendance, minus other aid received.
Application or Origination Fee	No.
Prepayment Penalty	No.
Late Fees	Yes (5% of the monthly payment or $7.50, whichever is greater. Maximum fee is $35).

Eligibility Requirements – Financial

Minimum Credit Score	720 or 690 with a qualified cosigner.
Minimum Income	$60,000 or $30,000 if applying with a cosigner.
Typical Credit Score of Approved Borrowers or Cosigners	N/A.
Typical Income of Approved Borrower	$128,244 for borrowers or $118,262 for cosigners.
Maximum Debt-to-Income Ratio	40%.
Ability to qualify if you’ve filed for bankruptcy	Yes, after 7 years.

Eligibility Requirements – Personal

Citizenship	U.S. citizen, permanent resident or, if applying with an eligible cosigner, a non-citizen with a work or student visa, or a DACA recipient.
Location	Borrower must be a resident of, or student in, the State of Texas.
Must be enrolled half-time or more	Yes.
School requirement	Any school authorized to receive federal aid.
Percentage of borrowers who have a cosigner	17%.

Repayment Options

In-school Repayment Options	Immediate Repayment: Make full payments as soon as the loan is disbursed, while you’re still in school.  Deferred Repayment: Don’t make any payments while you’re in school. Begin repayment after graduation or 6 months after graduation.
Grace Period	No.
Academic Deferment	No.
Military Deferment	Yes, up to 36 months.
Disability Deferment	Did not disclose.
Forbearance	Yes, hardship forbearance for up to 12 months (in three-month increments).
Cosigner Release	No. Borrowers must reapply for a new loan individually.
Death or Disability Discharge	Yes, if the benefiting student dies the loan is discharged for the parent borrower and the cosigner, if there is one. If the parent borrower dies and there is no cosigner, the loan is discharged. If the parent borrower dies and there is a cosigner,  the cosigner is still responsible for paying the loan.
Loan discharge if cosigner dies or becomes disabled	No. If the cosigner dies, the cosigner is removed from the loan, and the borrower continues to be responsible for repayment on the loan for the remainder of the repayment term.
Autopay	Allows for surplus payments via autopay: Yes. Allows for biweekly payments via autopay: No.

Customer Service

Loan Servicer	Firstmark.
In-house Customer Service Team	Only for the application process.
Process for Escalating Concerns	Yes.
Borrowers get assigned a personal customer service representative	No.
Average time from application to approval	Initial approval is online and takes only a few minutes. Brazos will then ask for documentation to verify your information.

Before you take out a loan from Brazos…  

Complete the Sparrow application to compare real rates from more than 15 different lenders to make sure you’re getting the best rate possible. 

See real rates, not rate ranges or estimates: Sparrow’s rates mimic those of our lenders so you know what rate you’re getting from each lender.  

No impact on your credit score: Checking your rates on Sparrow won’t impact your credit score.

Data Privacy: Sparrow doesn’t sell your information, so don’t worry about getting calls from that random number that won’t leave you alone. 

>> MORE: Compare your private student loan rates across 17+ lenders

FAQ

Is Brazos a legitimate lender?

Yes, Brazos is legitimate. The lender is part of the nation’s largest group of nonprofit student loan organizations and has $30 billion in loans for over 2 million students. 

Is Brazos available in all 50 states?

Brazos is available to residents of, or students in, the State of Texas.

How long does it take to get a Brazos student loan?

Submitting an application through Brazos takes a few minutes. Once you’ve submitted your loan application, Brazos will instantaneously return a decision about your eligibility. If you qualify, you will receive the rate and terms of your loan.

It may take some time to actually receive your loan. Your school must approve the loan which may take between four to six weeks.

>> MORE: How long does it take to get a student loan?

What happens if I don’t qualify for a Brazos student loan?

If you don’t qualify for a Brazos student loan, the company will inform you why. Depending on the reason, you may consider applying with a qualified cosigner or trying with a different lender. To check your rates across multiple lenders at once, try using Sparrow’s free search engine. In just two minutes, you can receive real, personalized offers from over 15 different lenders ready to help you. And best of all, it won’t impact your credit score.

>> MORE: Check your pre-qualified rates across 17+ student loan lenders

Are Brazos student loans federal or private?

Brazos’ student loans are private. Before you take out a private student loan, we recommend that you exhaust your federal funding options, including grants and scholarships.

>> MORE: Student loan eligibility: Private and Federal loans

Does applying for a loan through Brazos hurt my credit score? 

In order to estimate what rate you qualify for, Brazos conducts a soft credit check — this does not affect your credit score. If you choose to accept the Brazos loan, the company will conduct a hard credit check to verify your information. A hard credit check may temporarily impact your credit score.

>> MORE: Why did my credit score drop after student loans?