As the cost of a college education continues to rise, more students and parents are being saddled with taking on financial aid. Unfortunately, given the tough economic times over the past decade, there are many people who may have bad or no credit, which can make it difficult to qualify for certain types of student funding.
For those looking for student loans with bad or no credit, a no credit check loan may be the easy solution. Below, we will discuss how to get a student loan with no credit check as well as some alternatives, such as unsubsidized federal options.
Student Loans With A Cosigner
One way to help your application through the student loan process is to go in with a cosigner. This way, you have someone else who will share in the responsibility for the debt – even if he or she won’t actually be repaying it. Simply having a cosigner on the application, especially if they have good credit, means that there is another individual who also has an obligation related to the loan, thereby reducing the risk to the lender. This can help to get the financing pushed through with a private lender as well as lower your interest rate.
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Student Loans Without A Cosigner
In many cases, there may not be the possibility of you getting a cosigner. For one reason or another, you may not have an available family member who is able to cosign. Or, you may simply opt to secure your student funding on your own.
Alternatively, obtaining a federal grant or a scholarship will provide you with money that won’t require repayment. However, these are often not enough to cover everything that you may need. Therefore, you will likely still require some type of loan.
If you have less than perfect credit, then when it comes to educational funding, government-backed financial aid will typically be your best option. One reason for this is because these types of loans are easy to apply for. There are several federal loans that do not require a formal credit check.
Types of Student Loans Available Without a Credit Check
Federal student loans that do not require a credit check include the Stafford Loan and the Perkins Loan. There are subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans. Subsidized Stafford loans are considered need-based. With these types of loans, the government will pay the interest while you are still in school, and also during the grace period prior to the time that you begin repaying the loan.
Stafford Loans – Subsidized and Unsubsidized
With an unsubsidized Stafford loan – which is not considered to be need-based – the government does not pay the interest while you are still in school. Not all students will be eligible for the maximum amount of this type of loan.
Stafford loans can be appealing due to their low, fixed interest rates. Because Stafford loans are guaranteed by the full faith of the United States government, they are offered at lower interest rates than you would be able to obtain through a private lender.
The funds that are received from these loans can be applied towards your tuition, as well as other related expenses such as books and supplies. Certainly, another key factor with these loans is that they are not based on the borrower’s credit.
Perkins Loans
Perkins loans are also a type of federally funded student loan that are available without a credit check. There are three key factors that can determine the amount of your Perkins loan. These include:
- Your amount of financial need
- When you apply for the Perkins loan
- The funding level at your particular school
Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to obtain Perkins loans. As long as you are still in school and you are taking a minimum amount of course load, the repayment on a Perkins loan begins nine months after graduation.
It is important to note that because all schools do not participate in the Perkins loan program, you should check with your college or university’s financial aid office in order to be sure that they do – especially if you plan to apply for this type of loan.
Other Student Loan Funding Alternatives
There are other student loan funding alternatives such as going through a private lender. Typically, though, going this route will require that you have good credit or that you have a cosigner (who has good credit) on the application with you in order to secure the loan.
On the slight chance that you are able to obtain a loan on your own through a private lender without having to go through a credit check, the chances are that you will have to pay a substantially higher rate of interest in order to compensate for the lender taking on what they would consider to be a high risk loan.
If you do go through a private lender in conjunction with a cosigner, you can oftentimes apply to remove the cosigner from the loan after a certain period of time (such as 36 or 48 months of making consecutive, on-time payments).
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How To Apply For A No-Credit Check Student Loan
Applying for a no credit check student loan means that you will be going for either a Stafford or a Perkins loan – which are both federally funded options. In order to qualify for either of these types of loans, it will be important to follow the application instructions precisely. You must also get your paperwork turned in on time.
The place to begin when applying for any federally funded loan is with the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Any student who is interested in financial aid for college will need to get this paperwork filed through the Office of the U.S. Department of Education. In some cases, you may also need to apply for the loan itself.
Final Word
Having bad or no credit should not prevent you from getting the college education that you desire. While you may need to take some alternate routes in order to obtain the funding that you need, there are options available to you for securing the necessary funds. The first step is getting a good understanding of what is available in terms of funding, as well as what you are eligible for based on your specific financial and credit situation.