How To Apply For Student Loans With Bad Credit
Even with bad credit, it is possible to get the money you need in order to go to college.
The first thing you need to do is fill out the FAFSA application. FAFSA stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. When you first look at the paperwork involved, you might be apprehensive, but the time it takes to do this one thing will pay you in the future.
Filling out the FAFSA indicates that you have little or no income and are in need of a low interest loan for school. The loan you will receive from the FAFSA is the Federal Stafford Loan. This is given without a credit check making your bad credit a non-issue. You must be a U.S. citizen and be able to show that you don’t have the ability to pay for college yourself. You must not have any other defaulted student loans when you apply.
When you fill out the FAFSA, it is a good idea to apply for a Perkins Loan as well. Do this as soon as you can because these loans are not endless and you don’t want to miss out on getting one. A Perkins Loan also does not require a credit check and is based on need. They come from school and government funds.
More often than not, the money received from these loans will not pay for everything you need so you should be prepared to apply for a private student loan. These DO require a credit check so if you have bad credit, you must have a cosigner in order to be approved.
When you ask someone to be a cosigner for you, you are asking to use their good credit as a means of getting a loan. The person you ask must have a decent credit score, otherwise you are wasting your time. This is the score the loan company will use to give you a loan and if it is not good, they won’t loan you the money.
A cosigner takes a risk when they agree to cosign for you. If you do not pay on time or you default on the loan, they will be held accountable for payment. This will also reflect in their credit report. When someone trusts you enough to cosign for you, it is your responsibility to not betray their trust. Make your payments on time every month remembering that someone besides the loan company is counting on you doing so.
