What is included
The research directory includes a selected set of major national, nonprofit, specialized, and network-based providers plus a comparison marketplace. It does not represent every lender or loan available. Inclusion reflects public relevance and the ability to verify meaningful terms from primary sources—not payment.
Each provider is represented by a profile. A marketplace is labeled separately because it does not originate every product displayed through its flow.
Fields we normalize
We record provider model, product types, fixed and variable availability, published terms, fee language, loan limits, cosigner release, independent-borrowing paths, international eligibility, soft-rate-check language, hardship support, source URLs, relationship status, and verification date.
Missing information is shown as “not publicly disclosed” or “verify.” We do not convert missing information to zero, no, or a favorable feature.
Why rates are not hard-coded
APR ranges, promotions, discounts, and application availability can change quickly and can depend on product, state, school, program, term, repayment choice, credit, income, and cosigner. Until an authorized lender feed or review process can keep those fields current, College Loan Finder sends the reader to the official source rather than publishing a stale rate table.
Ordering and comparison
The default directory order is fixed editorial order, not compensation order. Filters remove profiles that do not match selected public features. They do not predict approval. Side-by-side comparison presents the same fields without a universal score.
If ratings are added later, the complete formula, weights, missing-data treatment, source ledger, reviewer, and version history will be published before the ratings go live.
Review schedule and corrections
The present dataset was checked September 11, 2026. Stable fields are scheduled for at least quarterly review; volatile fields require current provider confirmation. Readers and providers may submit a correction through the contact page. Material corrections receive a dated note in the corrections log.
Commercial relationships
Every profile currently states that no compensation relationship exists. If a relationship becomes active, the relevant CTA and profile will be relabeled near the action, the link will be qualified as sponsored, and the relationship will remain excluded from editorial ordering.