College Student Loan News and Info

Sometimes a student will need to obtain a private student loan when they cannot get a federal financial loan for whatever reason, or the aid is not enough.  A Private Student Loan can cover educational expenses and others that perhaps a student or parent did not account for in the initial assessment of the cost.  Perhaps a student needs a tutor for a course, or the older computer finally gave up.  Maybe it was just that books were more expensive than what you originally thought.  Whatever your reason for needing additional funds, consider the private student loans.

In order to obtain a private student loan, you should plan to be able to demonstrate that you can pay back this loan.  You will have to have good credit and a two-year employment history.

If you are self-employed, you will still need to show the two years of sufficient working history.  You also have to be able to be able to prove that you have an income currently in the field you are studying in school.  There are residency requirements as well, but they are not difficult to fulfill for most applicants.

I have listed some questions you should seriously ask yourself to decide if you will apply independently or with a cosigner:

1. Do I have a 2-year employment history or two years o records of steady self-employment?
2. Do I have current income from employment in my field of Study?
3. Do I have a 21-month long credit history?
4. Have I lived at this address or the ones immediately preceding it for a total of 12 months?
5. Am I either a US Citizen or a permanent resident with 2 years of US residency?

Take your time and involve your parents.  The above questions will help you determine if you will need a co-signer or not.

A credit worthy cosigner can boost your chances of acceptance and lower fees and rate as well.  There are many other advantages to having a cosigner as well, so you should check with a financial aid advisor to see the different ways a cosigner can benefit your private student loan application.

A private student loan application is generally much easier than the federal loan application and you can apply for them any time.  You can also get approval in minutes as opposed to months if you cannot wait for the federal aid to come through.  You can also get your money in a week.  Usually the rates are competitive but once again do depend on the credit worthiness of the applicant.

Another advantage of this kind of loan is the amount you can borrow.  In most cases you can get up to $40,000 in maximum loans annually, depending on the school and program, with a total maximum of $131,000.  There are also rate reductions for automatic payments and on-time payments.

As you probably know, a private student loan is not free.  It will have to be paid back.  So educating your self is very important.  This kind of loan is often referred to as an alternate student loan.

As you determine the best way to finance your education, consider all the alternatives and leave no stone unturned.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 at 10:09 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.