Private loan » Scholarships

Applying For College Loans With No Cosigner

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 23:22:19 +0000

With education costs continuing to increase year on year it is becoming increasingly difficult to source the funds necessary for a college education and more and more students spend more time thinking about raising the money needed than they do working at their studies. As if this was not bad enough in itself all too many students find that once they have graduated they are saddled with so much loan debt that it quite simply drags them down and will probably take many years to pay off. Now, if this seems to be a grim picture then for a lot of students the problem of funding an education is compounded by a requirement to raise the funds needed without having a cosigner to their loan applications.

College funding today is not simply a matter of turning to one single source of finance for the majority of students but is a matter of creating a portfolio of funds from various different sources.

The first action for every student must be to try to find scholarships and grants. Far too many students simply ignore this source of effectively free money altogether and yet it is surprising just how many scholarships and grants are available today. In a lot of cases of course the sums of money in question are reasonably small but nonetheless can be very useful as one part of your total funding plan.

The next source of funding should be federal loan funding through schemes such as Stafford and Perkins loans which you can get as both subsidized and unsubsidized loans. Perkins loans especially useful because of their low rate of interest but are also the hardest loans to get and require a student to demonstrate particular financial need.

Regrettably at this point although you will have begun to build your portfolio it is unlikely that this will give you enough funds and you will now need to begin casting your net wider and will have two paths to follow.

If you can get the help and support of either a parent or guardian then they can apply for a federal student PLUS loan to cover the shortfall between the money you have been able to find yourself and the overall cost of attending college. Student PLUS loans are conditional upon the guardian or parent having a reasonable credit rating but the requirements are generally not as stringent as those which would be applied by a private lender.

If you do not have a guardian or parent you can turn to or simply decide to go it alone then you will need to seek a private loan and just how easy that will be will depend to a large extent on your personal credit history. In the majority of cases private lenders will be quite happy to offer you a loan as long as you have a good credit rating and will require you to have a cosigner if you do not have a credit history against which they can make their decision or have a bad credit history. However, with more and more people with a poor credit history nowadays there is also an increasing number of private lenders who are prepared to offer loans without the requirement for a cosigner and so it is simply a question of shopping around.

A bad credit loan with no need for a cosigner will of course be more expensive than a normal good credit loan although if you take your time and shop around carefully you will find a loan at a fair rather than extortionate interest rate.

By: Donald Saunders

Alternative Student Loans

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:15:15 +0000

Education is highly expensive in today’s world. However that should not be the reason why higher qualification becomes a dream for many. Scholarships and grants do help but only a little. Still, to make ends meet, they do require student loans. The first option everyone opts for is federal aid. Though this is a good option, it still leaves a gap between the costs of education of money-at-hand. Alternative student loans have arrived just to bridge this gap.

These refer to private student loans that are provided by banks and other non-profit organizations. The main benefits of these loans are listed below:

1. Availability: Federal Aid is not keeping up with the rising cost of tuitions and fees. The appropriation made by the government for federal aids are not bridging the gap; private loans are a big helping hand in these situations. They help the students tide over financial crunches.

2. Flexibility: Alternative loans are highly flexible. In federal aid, there are lots of deadlines and conditions you have to comply with. There is lots of paperwork involved and that too has to be filed within a deadline. However, in private aid, you can get your money in your hands within as few as five business days after you have submitted your application.

3. Options: Private loans do not have a lot of paperwork involved. Scholarships and federal aids are shelled out only to the needy but the alternative loans are not based on needs. They are given to anyone who requests for the same.

The above points highlight the benefits of these loans and how they make college education an easy breeze.

By: Steven Copper

How to Apply For Private Student Loans

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:00:58 +0000

So you’re Joe College and you have elected not to pursue federal student financial aid, for any of a number of reasons. That’s fine, but what are your other options? You could try to apply for private student loans, for one thing.

As with most other things, when I am hunting down information, my starting point is always the Internet. Do a search online, using any of the major search engines, using the words ‘private student loans’ and you will turn up at least 50,000 related websites. Keep in mind, however, that not all of these will be pertinent. Typically the first fifty or so websites will be helpful, and fifty different sources of information is pretty good in anyone’s book!

Now you have searched and turned up a sufficient number of sources – good for you, a lot of the work has been taken care of…but you still have to sift through the sites. You need to establish a set of criteria when applying for private student loans.

The requirements for private student loans are fairly simple. You need to have at least a 27 month history of credit of some sort, whether repayment of a small loan over a period of time or regular payments on a credit card. The main thing to avoid are late payments or a history of running up a large credit card bill as those will reflect negatively on your credit history.

Since it is more than likely that you are a very young person, you will probably be required to provide a co-signer. That is someone who also has a good credit rating and has proof of sufficient income and a low debt load, who is willing to guarantee repayment of the loan in the unlikely eventuality that you may be unable to repay the loan yourself.

I would always advise students to first seek grants and scholarships as these do not have to be repaid, but the truth is that not everyone is eligible for a scholarship or grant, and it is a blessing that those persons can obtain student loans to finance their education. And helping someone find private college loans is a worthwhile endeavor!

Try to avoid borrowing more than you will be able to repay within a reasonable period of time. When you apply for private student loans, remember to look for those with a low interest rate and at least a partial forgiveness clause.

By: Louis Z.

The Benefits of Federal Loans Vs the Benefits of Private Loans

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:38:46 +0000

There are some very significant difference between federal loans and private loans, and students who think they are the same simply because they are both loans and both types have to be paid back the same way are making a potentially grave mistake. While it is true that private loans can be very beneficial, it is vitally important to understand the difference between the two types of loans before making a decision concerning what type of loan to choose. Consider this: if given the choice to pay someone twenty dollars or fifty dollars, which is better? The repayment rate for some private loans can be substantially higher than the payback rate for federal loans. That is why it is crucial for students to complete the FAFSA form, which can be filled out right online. By doing so, students can find out whether or not they are eligible to receive federal loans such as the federal Stafford loan, which has a lower fixed interest rate than most private loans. This is not to say that private loans are not without benefits as well, simply that it is important to compare the two of them and decide what will be best from there.

One of the more prominent differences between federal loans and private loans is the fact that, in order to qualify for federal loans, a student must fill out and submit the FAFSA form, while students applying for private loans do not have to submit the FAFSA. Furthermore, most of the federal loans offered are need based scholarships, meaning that only students who demonstrate acceptable levels of financial need can receive them. Private loans, however, are generally awarded based on the potential borrower’s credit history; a cosigner may be necessary to receive a private loan.

Federal loans are disbursed directly to the student’s school and thus have to be used only for the COA. With private loans, the funds go straight to the recipient of the loan, usually within five business days. The things for which the money is used is left up to the borrower’s discretion.

There is a cap on how much money the federal government will allow a student to have for any given loan each year so there are no guarantees that a student’s financial aid package will meet all of his or her college expenses and needs. In general, borrowers can receive substantially more money from private loans, as there is no annual cap.

With federal loans, students are guaranteed a grace period of six months following graduation or withdrawal from an institution. If necessary, there are other opportunities for deferral as well, provided that deferment is approved. Conversely, the recipients of private loans can seek deferment only while they are in school. Private lenders offer no grace period and it is much more difficult to receive a deferment after the borrower has finished with school.

There are circumstances under which federal loans can be forgiven, canceled, or discharged. Furthermore, in cases of financial and economic hardship or of the student going back to school, federal loans offer the opportunity for substantial deferments. With private loans, there are no opportunities for forgiveness; requirements for deferment options are much more strict and tightly regulated.

With federal Perkins loans, federal Stafford loans, and PLUS loans for parents, there are fixed interest rates. Private loans, on the other hand, come with variable interest rates, which can be as much as five percent higher than the interest rates offered by federal loans.

Lastly, the average repayment term for federal loans is ten years. Private loans determine the repayment term according to how much money the loan recipient has borrowed.

By: Gary Marjani