Getting personal loans or college loans with bad credit is a daunting task that might put you off college altogether, especially if you are thinking that bad credit student loans are non existent; fortunately, there are a number of student loans ideal for students or even parents with a low credit score. Read on to learn more about four loan providers that welcome applicants with bad credit scores.
Need Based Perkins Loan Overlooks Some Glaring Credit Problems
If you qualify for a Perkins loan based on your need, you do not have to shop around for bad credit student loans. Unless you are incarcerated or in default on another federal student loan, you will indeed qualify for this loan product.
Stafford Student Loans are not Credit Based
Not exactly bad credit student loans, Stafford college loans are more or less no credit loans. Unless you previously defaulted on a federal student loan, you can qualify for this student loan, even with bad credit. The only prerequisite for a Stafford student loan is a completed FAFSA. Even if you do not qualify based on need, you can still qualify for a Stafford loan.
Parent PLUS Loan Only Runs an Abbreviated Credit Check
If you need to supplement a Stafford or Perkins student loan with other kinds of loans, then a parent PLUS loan might be a decent option. An attractive option among the bad credit student loans, it is open to parent borrowers who might have had bad credit, loans they did not repay, or other adverse notations on their credit records – as long as these are more than five years in the past.
The Parent PLUS Loan site suggests that any discharges and defaults must be more than five years ago, and any current credit issues should not reflect payments past due for more than 90 days.
Private Student Loans for Applicants with Cosigners
It is interesting to note that bad credit student loans and private college loans do not usually go hand in hand. Take for example Sallie Mae, one of the most prominent providers of student loans. All of their college loans are credit based, but even if you have poor credit, a cosigner with good credit can pick up the slack. On a separate note, consider that the worse your credit is, the better your cosigner’s credit must be to obtain that private student loan.
Caution
The Federal Trade Commission strongly cautions students and parents in search of bad credit student loans not to fall for scams or sign up for college loans with unreasonably high interest rates or service fees. While at the time the notion of qualifying for any loan is a great prospect for someone with bad credit, student loans that later on prove too expensive to reasonably pay off will actually make the problem worse.
Sources
http://www.staffordloan.com/stafford-loan-info/; http://www.fafsaonline.com/; http://www.parentplusloan.com/plus-loans/; http://www.parentplusloan.com/plus-loans/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-plus-loan.php; http://www.salliemae.com/get_student_loan/apply_student_loan/cosigning_loan/cosigning_loan.htm; http://www.ed.gov/programs/fpl/index.html; http://ifap.ed.gov/sfahandbooks/attachments/0304Vol5Ch2.pdf; http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/articles/naps32.pdf
