To get you closer to the degree, life, and career you’ve always wanted, we searched for grad school student loans available to borrowers with poor credit. Here we highlight your best options to affordably borrow and pay for grad school.
Where to find bad credit student loans for grad school
As you start looking for bad credit student loans, check out these options first:
- Federal student loans for graduate students: These carry no or low credit requirements, making them some of the most accessible ways to borrow for grad school.
- Private graduate school loans: You might be able to get grad school loans from private lenders. But you’ll have to offset your poor credit by applying with a qualified student loan cosigner.
Both federal and private student loans have their pros and cons, but there are times when each can make sense.
Federal student loans for grad school
As a graduate student, you can file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to get access to graduate school student aid and loans. After the government processes your FAFSA, your college puts together a graduate school student aid award package that outlines your options to pay for your graduate degree.
This financial aid award package is a great place to start looking for bad credit student loans. In particular, check for two federal student loans currently available to graduate students: Direct Unsubsidized Loans and Grad PLUS Loans.
Graduate students don’t need to demonstrate financial need to access either Direct Unsubsidized Loans or Grad PLUS Loans. You will, however, need to be an eligible student enrolled at least half time in a qualifying graduate program to access federal loans.
Direct Unsubsidized Loans for graduate and professional students have no credit requirements
Direct Unsubsidized Loans for graduate and professional students carry no credit check or income requirements to qualify. A lack of credit requirements could make these your best option to get affordable loans for grad school when you have poor credit.
As the table above shows, you will face limits on the amount you can borrow with Direct Unsubsidized Loans. If your costs are higher than that, don’t panic. You can borrow up to your limit in Direct Unsubsidized Loans for grad students, and cover the remaining costs with Grad PLUS or private student loans.
If you’re in a professional medical program, you might have higher annual and aggregate limits on Direct Unsubsidized Loans. Check with your school’s financial aid office to see if you can borrow more.
Grad PLUS Loans require you to have no adverse credit history
Unlike Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Grad PLUS Loan applications include a credit check. To get Grad PLUS Loans, you must not have an adverse credit history. Here’s what that means:
- Must not currently have any credit accounts with balances over $2,085 that are more than 90 days delinquent, in collections, or charged off in the past two years.
- Must not have a bankruptcy discharge, repossession, default determination, foreclosure, charge off of federal student aid, wage garnishment, or tax lien within the past five years.
The non-adverse credit standard is easier to meet than the credit requirements most private lenders set. So even if you were rejected for private student loans, it can still be worth applying for Grad PLUS Loans.
If you do have an item that would make your credit history adverse, you still have two options:
- Add an endorser to your Grad PLUS Loan application. The endorser plays a similar role to a cosigner, agreeing to repay the loan if you do not.
- Document and submit proof of extenuating circumstances that led to your bad credit.
In these cases, you can try to get your Grad PLUS Loan approved despite your adverse credit. If approved, you will be required to take an online course on credit.
Private student loans require good credit or a cosigner
Unlike the nonexistent or low credit requirements on federal student loans, private lenders usually want to see a high credit score and solid financial background. But if that’s not you, don’t write off private grad school loans. You can still get private student loans for grad school with the help of a qualified cosigner.
In fact, this is a pretty common solution for graduate students, with 62 percent borrowing private student loans for an advanced degree with the help of a cosigner in the third quarter of 2017, according to a report from education research firm MeasureOne.
To get bad credit student loans from private lenders, you’ll need to apply with a qualified cosigner. The lender will consider each applicant’s information. Even if you have bad credit, it could be balanced out by your cosigner’s positive credit history and qualifications.
Lenders commonly look for the following in cosigners:
- Positive payment history: Your cosigner must have a clean credit report with no recent missed payments or delinquencies.
- A high credit score: A good credit score for private student loans is usually at least in the mid-600s. But the higher, the better. You’ll have the best chance of getting approved and snagging lower rates if your cosigner’s FICO score is over 700.
- Low debt-to-income ratio: Lenders prefer cosigners with a debt-to-income ratio of 30 percent or lower, which indicates that they can afford to take over repayment if necessary.
Before your student loan cosigner signs the dotted line, make sure they understand that they will be equally responsible for the loan’s repayment.
Whatever your credit score, it doesn’t have to keep you from being able to pay for your advanced degree. With these options to get bad credit student loans, you can get the financing you need to pay your way through grad school. That frees you up to focus on getting the most return on investment from grad school — and paying off your student debt as fast as possible.
Article source : https://studentloanhero.com/featured/bad-credit-student-loans-grad-school-even-with/
