Alternative Financing With Bad Credit Student Loans - Finding Student Loans with Bad Credit

Alternative Financing With Bad Credit Student Loans

Proven Strategies for Improving Your Credit and Getting the Money You Need
Credit, good or bad, is a reality when it comes time to plan your financial aid and student loan strategy.

Common myths about college students and credit:

All students that go in search of student loans are fresh out of high school—just plain wrong. A growing population of students is well past high school, many working on second and third degrees, and professionals that return to school for career-related courses. All may qualify for student loans.
Students have no credit history—again, wrong. Any student that has had a job and paid any type of bill or credit card has a credit history. Alternatively plenty of younger students could be affected by their credit history because they, ironically, have little to reflect their financial situation or attitudes. Adult students usually have plenty of credit history from which to draw conclusions, good or bad.
Students must rely on parents’ credit—again any student, young or old with enough good credit can qualify themselves.
Parents have good credit—really wrong. While some parents have good credit it’s really a mistake to assume that all do. Plenty of parents have poor and bad credit, making them totally inappropriate choices for co-signors or co-borrowers.
Good news: Bad credit, or no credit, is not a legitimate obstacle to a college education.

You may have to work a little bit harder to secure the financing, but you should never let bad credit stand in your way to an education.

Federal Student Loans: Perfect Bad Credit Loans
The federal student loans—Direct of FFEL--are hands down your first strategy when you must overcome bad credit. The subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford Loans may be utilized to your advantage in a number of ways. First these are the single most popular student loans and require no credit check at all to qualify for funds. The only federal loans that require a credit check are the Parent and Grad PLUS Loans—both non-need-based loans.

Dependent students with high financial need may qualify for Stafford Loan limits that increase with each year of study.
Independent students may receive almost double the financial amount as dependents.
Parents, been turned down for a PLUS Loan based on credit? You could be a benefit to your child—he or she could be approved for much more in Stafford Loan funds.
Grad students and adult professionals may qualify for over $20,000 each year in low-interest Stafford Loans, without any credit check.
How to Get a Private Student Loan When You Have Poor Credit Scores
If for some reason you do not qualify for federal student loans or your financial award fails to cover your necessary college expenses, a private loan may be necessary. But how do you get past the dreaded credit check? You don’t.

Here’s how you plan for a private loan with bad credit:

All private student loans are credit-based whether they are for undergrads, grads, med students, law school loans or supplemental private loans that help you cover continuing education costs or even Bar Exam costs. It’s that simple—you’ve been informed. So armed with that knowledge what step can you take to be approved for a private loan?

Find a co-signor in advance who knows you, trusts you and is willing to sign a promissory note with you. Also make sure your co-signor has very good credit.

A co-signor does not have to be a parent or guardian; it can also be a good friend or a relative.

Leverage Student Loans to Improve Your Bad Credit
All student loans require you make repayments, which are key to your credit record. Here’s a strategy: make every student loan payment on time. Use co-signors to your advantage—to build up your credit. It’s easy: once you’ve made 48 consecutive on-time payments, it’s common for your lender to release the co-signor from the loan. After that you’re only building on your own credit, no one else’s.

**Tip: Ask your lender if they provide a co-signor release once you’ve made a certain number of on time payments.

Keep Your Credit History Ship-Shape
After college, when you’re out in the real world, and the bills begin piling up, continue to nurture your credit record. At the first sign of repayment woes, talk to your lender about a student consolidation loan.

We’ve given you some proven ways to overcome bad credit, work toward continuous improvement, and get the money you need to make college a reality.