Citibank and Key Bank have entered into a partnership with Kent State to be the university’s exclusive lenders for all alternative loans, according to www.sfa.kent.edu, Kent State’s student financial aid Web site.

This is nothing students should be concerned about, said David Creamer, vice president of administration.

He called the program the Kent Opportunity Loan Program and said students who have loans from other lenders, or plan to, need not worry.

He said alternative loans from lenders other than Key Bank and Citibank will still be accepted at Kent State.

But Trudy Cantwell, photo illustration major, said that’s not what she heard.

She said after hearing the university would no longer accept loans from other private lenders, she called the Student Financial Aid office.

She told them she applied for a Key Bank loan in the past and was denied. Then she asked if her loan from another lender would still be accepted. She said she was told if she brought in her rejection letter from Key Bank and asked in writing, they would consider allowing her to keep the loan she has.

Creamer said the new partnership is just to act as a safety net for students who have exhausted all other payment options.

But the student financial aid Web site says the two banks have an exclusive partnership with Kent State.

According to a press release from April 20, the Kent Opportunity Loan Program is a program that allows the university to serve as a guarantor to students who have run out of payment options, have a grade point average of at least 2.5 and have completed 24 credit hours.

It said Key Bank was chosen as a lender for the program.

Mark Evans, director of Student Financial Aid, is not available for comment until Monday.

Contact financial reporter Katie Greenwald at [email protected].