College Access Loan Program

The College Access Loan Program provides fixed-interest loans to Texas students who are unable to meet an institution's cost of attendance (COA), including both direct (tuition and fees) and indirect (room and board, books and supplies, transportation, personal expenses, and other allowable costs for financial aid purposes) costs.

Students must: 

• Be a Texas resident.
• Be registered with Selective Service or be exempt. 
• Be accepted for enrollment and enrolled at least half-time at an eligible Texas institution in a course of study leading to a certificate, an associate, bachelor’s, graduate or higher degree, or an approved alternative educator certification program.
• Meet the satisfactory academic progress requirements set by the institution.
• Receive a favorable credit evaluation or provide a cosigner who has favorable credit and meets other credit requirements.

Students may borrow no less than $100 and no more than:

• Their cost of attendance minus any other available financial resources a student is eligible to receive such as scholarships, gifts, grants, federal Direct Loans (subsidized or unsubsidized), and other financial aid.
• Their manageable debt limit, as determined by their program of study (see amounts).

If a student does not meet credit evaluation requirements for the College Access Loan on their own, they may have a cosigner help them meet qualifications.

Eligible cosigners must: 

• Be at least 21 years of age. 
• Have a regular source of income. 
• Not be the borrower or the spouse of the borrower.
• Receive a favorable credit evaluation*.
• Be a U.S. citizen, or a permanent U.S. resident and live in the U.S. or in a U.S. territory. 

*To receive a favorable credit evaluation, students or cosigners must:  

• Have an Experian Vantage Score of 650 or higher. 
• Not have public records such as tax liens or bankruptcy proceedings. 
• Have a minimum of four credit trade lines (excluding student loans or authorized user accounts). 
• Not have defaulted on any federal or private education loans.

Interest is currently a fixed annual rate of 6.30%. Interest starts adding up (or accruing) on the amount you borrow from the moment the loan is made. This loan uses simple interest, which means interest is based only on the original amount borrowed, not on previously accrued interest.

• Loans have a six-month grace period. When a borrower drops below half-time enrollment at an eligible institution, their six-month grace period begins. At the end of this time, the borrower must begin repaying the loan.
• All loans have a minimum monthly repayment amount of $50.
• If you borrow less than $30,000 in state loans, you’ll have up to 10 years to repay your loan. If you borrow $30,000 or more, your repayment period can be up to 20 years. There is no penalty for paying off your loan early.
• Loans will not be sold to another lender.
• If you run into financial hardship, loan forbearance may be available to temporarily pause or reduce your payments. Interest will continue to accrue during forbearance, so you’re responsible for any interest that builds up.

Note: Borrowers who enroll in the automatic debit or Automatic Clearing House (ACH) payment service receive a 0.25% interest rate reduction on the interest rate of each applicable loan in repayment.

You can apply at HHLoans.