If you’re considering going back to school to learn a trade, two of the biggest questions are likely: Can I afford it? and How will I pay for it? Fortunately, some lenders offer student loans specifically designed for trade school, though they may be labeled as career training loans or something similar.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the best loans for financing trade school. These lenders offer features like funding up to 100% of tuition costs, fixed and variable interest rate options and autopay discounts to help lower your borrowing costs. Read our methodology to learn more.
Best student loans for trade schools
Best for low rates: Sallie Mae
Who’s this for? Sallie Mae offers some of the lowest interest rates of lenders we researched, offering student loans for professional training or for certificates in culinary, aviation and technical courses. Sallie Mae offers both fixed- and variable-rate loans: choose a fixed-rate loan for predictable monthly payments and a variable-rate loan if you think rates could fall lower and you want to be able to take advantage with good credit. You can qualify for Sallie Mae loans whether you’re attending full-time, half-time or less, studying online or in person, studying abroad and/or taking professional certification courses.
Standout benefits: Borrowers seeking student loans for trade school can borrow up to 100% of the cost of attendance. Sallie Mae also doesn’t charge an origination fee and you can apply with a co-signer if you need to.
- Loans available to part-time and continuing ed students
- Co-signer release after just 12 payments
- No origination fee
- Offers loans for a wide variety of educational needs including: bar study, medical school, residency and relocation costs, dental school, residency and relocation costs, nursing school/health professions, commercial flight school, coding boot camp and professional certifications
- No student loan refinancing
- Doesn’t offer parent loans
- Hard credit check to prequalify
- Late payment fee
Best for flexible repayment options: College Ave
Who’s this for? College Ave offers four options for repaying your student loan: repay the full principal and interest right away; make interest-only payments during school; make a flat $25 per month payment while still in school; defer all payments until you graduate. This gives borrowers multiple ways to manage their student loan, whether they want the fastest way to pay it down or the most affordable for in the moment.
Standout benefits: College Ave doesn’t charge an application fee or an origination fee. Loan repayment terms extend to 20 years for certain graduate school loans (dental, law, medical and veterinary, health professions).
- High loan amount
- Flexible repayment terms
- Hardship protections like deferment and forbearance
- No co-signer required for U.S. students
- Offers repayment terms of up to 20 years for graduate student loans (otherwise, up to 15 years for undergraduate loans)
- Co-signers can’t be released until half of the repayment term has passed
- Charges late fees
College Ave’s student loan products are made available through Firstrust Bank, member FDIC, First Citizens Community Bank, member FDIC, or BTG Pactual Bank, N.A., member FDIC. All loans are subject to individual approval and adherence to underwriting guidelines. Program restrictions, other terms, and conditions apply.
All rates include the auto-pay discount. The 0.25% auto-pay interest rate reduction applies as long as a valid bank account is designated for required monthly payments. If a payment is returned, you will lose this benefit. Variable rates may increase after consummation.Approved interest rate will depend on the creditworthiness of the applicant(s), lowest advertised rates only available to the most creditworthy applicants and require selection of the Flat Repayment Option with the shortest available loan term
Pursue a college education with funding from these experienced lenders
Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.
Undergraduate and graduate students, parents, students in MBA, law, health professional and dental programs
$5,000 (or state-mandated minimum) up to the cost of attendance
5, 7, 10, 15, years; up to 20 years for refinancing loans
Best for autopay discount: Ascent
Who’s this for? Ascent offers a Career Training Loan with a 1.00% interest rate discount for signing up for autopay. Most lenders offer autopay discounts ranging from 0.25% to 0.50%, so Ascent’s 1.00% rate reduction is hard to ignore. The lender’s career training loans can cover up to 100% of tuition.
Standout benefits: There are no prepayment penalties for paying off your career training loan before the repayment term ends, and Ascent offers a free training platform called AscentUP to help students prepare to step into their careers.
- Considers borrowers with no credit
- High loan limit
- Co-signer release available after just 12 payments
- Up to 1% interest rate discount for autopay*
- 1% cash back rewards*
- Considers alternative requirements like the borrower’s school, program, graduation date, major, GPA, cost of attendance and Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to grant approval
- Maximum fixed APR is on the high side
- Doesn’t offer student loan refinancing
Disclosure: *Ascent Funding, LLC products are made available through Bank of Lake Mills or DR Bank, each Member FDIC. Subject to credit approval.Loan products may not be available in certainjurisdictions. Certain restrictions, limitations,termsand conditions may applyforAscent’s Terms and Conditions please visitAscentFunding.com/Ts&Cs. Annual PercentageRates(APRs) displayed above are effective as of3/1/2026and reflect an Automatic Payment Discount (ACH). The ACH discount consists of 0.25% on credit-based college student loanssubmittedprior to 6/1/2025, a 0.5% discount for on credit-based college student loanssubmittedon or after 6/1/2025 and a 1.00% discount on outcomes-based loans when you enroll in automatic payments. Loans subject to individual approval,restrictionsand conditions apply. Loan features and information advertised are intended for college student loans and are subject to change at any time. For more information, seerepayment examplesor review theAscent Student Loans Terms and Conditions. The final amount approved depends on the borrower’s credit history, verifiable cost of attendance as certified by an eligible school and is subject to credit approval and verification of application information. Lowest interestratesrequire full principal and interest (Immediate) payments, the shortest loan term, a cosigner, and are only available for our most creditworthy applicants and cosigners with the highest average credit scores. Actual APR offered may be higher or lower than the examples above, based on the amount of time you spend in school and any grace period you have before repayment begins. Variableratesmay increase after consummation.1% Cash Back Graduation Reward subject to terms and conditions. For details on Ascent borrower benefits, visitAscentFunding.com/BorrowerBenefits. Ascent applicants and borrowers that agree to theAscentUPTerms of Service and Privacy Policy, as well as students associated with an Ascent parent loan application, have access to theAscentUPplatform.
Best for income-based repayment plan: Edly
Who’s this for? Edly’s Career Training Loans come as co-signed or no co-signed options. They’re for students pursuing certificates and/or professional training in allied health, coding bootcamps and more. With Edly, borrowers can make income-based repayments once finishing school, meaning their payments adjust based on their income.
Standout benefits: Edly offers a co-signer release option after the eligible student makes six consecutive, in-full, qualifying post-training payments. Also, borrowers can apply for loan forbearance if they lose their job or make below $30,000 annually.
Edly Student Loans
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Eligible borrowers
Qualifying juniors, seniors and graduate students
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Loan amounts
$2,000 up to $15,000 per academic year and up to $10,000 for summer terms; ($20,000 lifetime limit)
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Loan terms
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Loan types
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Borrower protections
Deferment and forbearance; all loans are based on income-based repayment
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Co-signer required?
Pros
- Considers borrowers’ schooling and programs
- All loan payments are income-based
- Hardship protections available
- No co-signer required
- Student success team and career counselors available for support
Cons
- Only 7-year loan terms
- Only variable-rate loans
- Not available in every state
- Non-cosigned loans tend to charge higher interest rates
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Why trust CNBC Select?
At CNBC Select, our mission is to deliver high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice to our readers, enabling them to make informed financial decisions. Every student loan list is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of student loanproducts. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content independently of our commercial team and any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on maintaining high journalistic standards and ethics. Seeour methodologyfor more information on how we choose the best student loans for trade schools.
Our methodology
To determine the best student loans for trade schools,CNBC Selectreviewed dozens of private student loan lenders. To narrow down our list, we focused on the following features:
- Whether the loan could be used to cover trade school or career training/professional certificate costs
- Eligibility requirements
- Maximum and minimum loan amounts
- Interest rates (fixed or variable)
- Loan terms
- Repayment options
- Borrower protections, including grace periods, deferment and forbearance
- Bonus features, like autopay discounts
We also considered CNBC Select audience data when available, such as general demographics and engagement with our content and tools.
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Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
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