Easy to do
Our experience was that getting a loan was well explained and easy to apply.
Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA) is a non-profit quasi-state authority that has been providing lower-cost higher education financing solutions since 1981 and free college planning services since 1998. Also provided by RISLA is RIScholarships.org, a free online scholarship search tool to help match students with local scholarships. Additionally, RISLA also offers the Knowledge for College Scholarship, which awards 50 students $2,000 each to help pay for college expenses. For students trying to reduce their interest rates on existing student loans, RISLA also offers low-cost student loan refinancing options. RISLA is with you every step of your college journey, walking you through the college planning process, educating families on obtaining financial aid, and providing tools and resources that help families make informed and responsible borrowing choices to help pay for education.
Written by the business, not verified by us.RISLA (www.risla.com) has a 4.9 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 200 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Public & Local Services and its reputation is excellent. Praise is nearly unanimous, with 98% rating it 4 stars or higher; The business has replied to 50% of negative reviews; Reviews mostly discuss User experience, Customer service. Last updated 2026-09-06.
Reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Consumers often praise the friendly and attentive staff, noting how wonderfully knowledgeable and professional team members are when guiding them through financial aid applications. People consistently note the remarkably fast loan processing times, clear updates, and overall smooth experience from beginning to end. Many customers emphasize that speaking directly with helpful representatives makes complex financial processes surprisingly manageable and stress-free. However, some people mentioned that managing paperwork can sometimes involve frustrating back-and-forth messaging or cumbersome file uploads. A few reviewers also noted that follow-up responses could occasionally feel a bit slow or require extra email exchanges.
Auto-generated from all reviews of this business. For reference only.Our experience was that getting a loan was well explained and easy to apply.
Super easy online form and when I made a mistake, the customer service I received to correct my mistake was great!
It was and has been an easy process. Staff are very helpful and friendly.
risla has the personal touch
You made it easy to do everything. But I was not happy with the interest rates.
Wayne, we are glad to hear you found it easy to work with RISLA. We strive to make the process as smooth and stress-free as possible for borrowers. In this high-rate environment, I am sure you are not alone in wishing rates were lower. However, we work very diligently to keep our rates as low and competitive as possible. We find from many customer reviews that our customers are finding the lowest rate for their financial situation with RISLA. We sincerely thank you for choosing RISLA.
I have used RISLA for two of my children, one at URI and one at Duquense. Both experiences have been smooth with no problems. All questions were answered quickly and thoroughly.
The process was easy to navigate. We ate happy about the process.
Consistent and timely communication throughout the process
Easy to use platform with the quickest turnaround time ever!
Prompt reply. Answered all my questions. Easy process
Risla has provided excellent customer service (friendly staff, all of them) along with fair rates and and easy apllication process. In a world of chaos corruption and deceit, risla has provided us a lifeline allowing to avoid the aforementioned nonsense.
Really like the company. My experience with my daughter's loan and my son's loan now was totally different. My daughter was so easy, my son's we went back and forth so many times in email. One email with all documents needed would have been much better and shorter.
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback regarding your experience with RISLA. The experience you outlined reflects what we often see, even among repeat borrowers: every borrower and every loan may have a unique set of circumstances. We do our best to troubleshoot issues as quickly as possible, recognizing the importance of getting funds to schools promptly. It is a priority for our team to ensure the highest level of accuracy for every customer. We greatly appreciate your choosing RISLA for your student loans.
Friendly, helpful .
They offered options other company's don't. The process was very straight forward and it was easy to upload your documentation.
Erin Demaggio is an excellent representative for RISLA. She was professional, polite and answered all questions related to the student loan process and college planning making an overwhelming process much easier.
So kind and helpful during a stressful time.
quick response time. Courtney was so helpful and walked us through on how to check RIC portal to verify approved student loans amount. She gave additional information on other loan options.
Refinancing with RISLA was an absolute headache. They requested the same tax forms four separate times because their portal kept failing to sync documents with underwriting. After a month of delays, they abruptly added strict co-signer requirements that weren't mentioned anywhere on their initial application rates page. Total waste of time.
I would like to recognize Erin Demaggio from your Rhode Island office for the exceptional service she provided to my family. She was an absolute pleasure to work with. Her patience, kindness, and support were truly outstanding. My mother, husband, son, and I were all present at the appointment, and Erin made what could have been an overwhelming process feel simple and manageable. She explained everything in a way that was easy to understand without ever making us feel uninformed or uncomfortable asking questions. Because of her professionalism, compassion, and clear communication, she helped us complete everything we needed with ease. She made the entire process seamless, and we are incredibly grateful for her assistance. Employees like Erin are a tremendous asset to your organization. Please extend our sincere appreciation and thanks for the outstanding care and service she provided.
We needed immediate assistance in filing the FASFA for the upcoming school year. We left a frantic message for a return call, and Ellen reached out within one hour. She immediately understood our issue and assisted us in completing our application correctly, confirming it was successfully submitted, and the follow-up emails we should expect within a 48 hour period. She was patient, kind, and understanding throughout the entire process. A simple “thank you” isn’t enough to express our gratitude for the peace of mind Ellen provided during one phone call.
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