Loans for Student With No Credit

Loans for Student With No CreditIf you’re just applying for college you probably haven’t needed credit before and therefore have no credit history.  Loans for a student with no credit are hard to find as most lenders require a well-rated credit history.  However, if you need a loan purely to fund your education, you can apply for Federal Student Aid.

Although they will provide loans for students with no credit, there are a number of criteria which must be met before a student is eligible for a loan and these are:

  1. The applicant must be able to prove their need for a loan.
  2. The student must be a US citizen, a US permanent resident or other eligible non-citizen with a valid social security number. You can find an exhaustive list on the FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid) website (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/index.htm).
  3. Male students aged 18 to 25 need to register with the Selective Service.  The organisation keeps a record of males eligible for draft in the event of a national emergency.
  4. Once approved, a satisfactory level of attendance and academic progress must be maintained.
  5. The student must be able to prove an educational background and certified level of achievement, to qualify them for post secondary education.  Full details of acceptable certificates, diplomas and other qualifications can be found on the FAFSA website.
  6. The applicant must not already be in default of a student loan, and must certify that any loan granted will only be used for educational purposes.

If you meet with the above criteria, you should complete an online application form, which will enable the calculation of your Expected Family Contribution (EFC).  This is a slightly misleading term as it is not an indication of how much your family must contribute, but an indication to colleges as to how much you would be eligible to receive.  An EFC below a certain figure makes you entitled to a Federal Pell Grant, which unlike a loan, does not need to be repaid.

A formula is then applied to determine how much you need to borrow, which is your cost of attendance less your EFC, your Federal Pell Grant and aid from other sources.

You will need to provide evidence of your cost of attendance which will comprise your tuition fees, accommodation, food, books, stationery, transport, loan repayments and miscellaneous supplies (including a realistic sum for a PC or laptop.  In fact, you can include anything that can reasonably be demonstrated that you need in order to carry out your studies.

If you have a disability or special medical needs, some further costs related to these may be admissible.

As for any other loan, loans for students with no credit must be paid back in a timely fashion.  When your loan is granted find out from the National Student Loan Data System who the provider is, and contact them or consult their website to find out how and when you need to make your repayments.

There are severe penalties for late payment or default, so if at some time you feel that you can’t meet your repayment schedule, consult with your lender.  They will probably rearrange your schedule or agree to defer payments for a period of time.  Whatever you do, do not default. I hope this has answered some of the questions you may have had on applying for loans for student with no credit.

 

 

Posted in Loans for Student | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Student loan debt is $849 billion and rising

Article by MICHELLE SINGLETARY

WASHINGTON — In midtown Manhattan two years ago, the billboard-size clock that keeps track of the U.S. national debt ran out of digits when the figure ballooned to $ 10 trillion.

It wasn’t long before a solution was found to again tick, tick, tick away how much the country is in the red.

Now there’s another clock, only this one is online, ticking away the amount of student loan debt being amassed by college students and their parents.

Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of finaid.org, one of the best sites for college financial aid information, has posted a “Student Loan Debt Clock” that keeps a running tally of the current outstanding federal and private student loans.

If you check today, the total will be more than $ 849 billion. I just watched in awe as the last five digits kept changing, pushing the debt load to a level that is frankly hard to fathom. It’s a total figure, I realize, but I also know – and you probably know, too – what a financially debilitating impact this much student loan debt is having on families.

To develop the clock, Kantrowitz started with a conservative estimate of $ 665 billion in federal loans outstanding as of June 2010. For private student loans, he used a repayment trajectory model he put together in addition to annual new loan volume data. Those calculations yielded $ 168 billion for private student loans. Combine all this debt and you get the starting estimate of $ 833 billion.

The total debt figure is then increased by $ 2,853.88 for each second since midnight June 30, he said. The total debt outstanding will be even more explosive at the beginning of each semester, when most student loans are disbursed.

Kantrowitz is quick to point out that the student loan debt clock is only an approximation and is supposed to be used for entertainment purposes. OK, but there’s nothing entertaining about this alarming clock. It’s as strong a statement as the national debt clock.

“Hopefully greater awareness of the aggregate magnitude of education debt will encourage families to minimize their student loan debt,” Kantrowitz says.

Kantrowitz tries to discourage people from borrowing too much. Most recently on finaid.org, Kantrowitz released tips for families, including a recommendation that for a student’s entire education, one should not borrow more than the expected starting salary upon graduation. Great advice, except many students and their parents don’t even bother to figure out what that starting salary might be before signing loan documents. I’m not even including the students who are clueless about their career path, all the while adding to the debt clock.

Private Student Loan Default HelpIf you borrow more than twice your starting salary after college, you will be at high risk of default, Kantrowitz says.

Kantrowitz has another reason for posting the clock. He wants to draw attention to the inadequacy of need-based grants. The federal Pell Grant program, which provides grants to low-income undergraduate and certain post-baccalaureate students, should be expanded. Student Loan Settlement A Pell Grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid. Kantrowitz suggests doubling the maximum grant, which for the 2010-11 award year (July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011) is $ 5,550.

“Such an investment will increase the number of low- and moderate-income students graduating with bachelor’s degrees by 200,000 to 300,000 a year, ultimately paying for the cost of the increase in grants through greater federal income-tax revenue,” he estimates.

In a report to Congress and the Department of Education, the federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance found that inadequate need-based grants limit the ability of students from low- and moderate-income families to attend four-year colleges and universities. In “The Rising Price of Inequality,” the independent panel warns that if aid isn’t increased, the percentage of qualified low-income students who earn bachelor’s degrees will significantly drop.

We all know there is a growing gap between the haves and have-nots. In this case, it’s the people who have enough money to go to college without debt and those who are burying themselves or their parents in debt. The problem is that the conventional wisdom – a college education will pay off in the future – isn’t a guarantee in an economy with high unemployment and starting salaries that are insufficient to service the monthly student loan payments many people are taking on.

So if you’re borrowing for college, go to finaid.org and just watch the clock for a little while. Take in its message as you view the debt total growing second by second. It’s haunting. It’s crazy. It’s sad.Student Loan Forgiveness

MICHELLE SINGLETARY

http://www.studentloansescape.com










Posted in Student Loan Debt | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment