Finding College Loans Without A Cosigner

By: Donald Saunders
Submitted: 2008-05-16 13:00:55
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As education costs continue to rise each year it is getting harder to source the funds necessary for college and many students spend more time worrying 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 discover that once they have left college they are saddled with so much debt that it quite simply drags them down and will probably take many years to repay. If this paints a grim picture then for far too many students the problem of funding an education is increased by the need to raise the funds needed without the availability of a cosigner to their loans.

Nowadays college funding is not merely a matter of turning to one single source of finance for most students but is a matter of building a portfolio of funds from a range of different sources.

The first action for every student must be to look for scholarships and grants. Many students simply overlook this source of effectively free money altogether and yet it is surprising just how many scholarships and grants are on offer today. In many cases of course the sums of money in question are relatively small but even so can be extremely helpful as one part of your total funding plan.

The next source of funding should be federal loan funding through schemes like Stafford and Perkins loans which can be obtained as both subsidized and unsubsidized loans. Perkins loans particularly useful because of their low interest rate but are also the hardest loans to obtain and require students to show particular financial hardship.

Unfortunately at this point although you will have begun to build your portfolio it is unlikely that it will provide you with enough funds and you will need to begin casting your net wider and here you will have two routes to follow.

If you are fortunate enough to have the help and support of a guardian or parent then they may apply for a federal student PLUS loan to make up the difference between the funding you have been able to obtain yourself and the overall cost of attending college. Student PLUS loans are subject to your guardian or parent having a reasonable credit history but the requirements are generally less stringent than those which would be applied by a private lender.

If you do not have a guardian or parent to whom you can turn or simply decide to go it alone then you will need to seek a private loan and exactly how simple that will be will depend to a large extent on your personal credit history. In most cases private lenders will be quite happy to offer you a loan if you have a good credit history and will ask for a cosigner if you do not have a credit history on which they can base their lending decision or have a poor credit history. Nonetheless, with a growing number of people with a bad credit history today there is also a growing number of private lenders who are prepared to offer loans without the need for a cosigner so it is merely a question of shopping around.

A bad credit loan with no need for a cosigner will of course be more expensive than a standard good credit loan but as long as you take your time and shop around carefully you will obtain a loan at a fair rather than extortionate interest rate.

TheStudentLoansCenter.com provides information on all aspects of college financing including student loans with no cosigner

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