Student Loans Without Cosigner

For students who need help paying for college, finding student loans without a cosigner necessary can be a challenging task. Though there’s no shortage of student loans available between governmental and private sources, the vast majority of them require a cosigner with a well established credit history. If there’s no one out there to cosign for you, then your scope of options becomes very limited. There are, however, a few ways that you can secure student loans without a cosigner, with no financial finagling necessary.

What You'll Need:

• Access to your financial information
• Past tax documents
• A Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form

1. Start your student loan search by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The number one way to obtain student loans without a cosigner is through the government. Generally speaking, their loans are handed out based on need as opposed to credit history. So, in other words, they’re giving students seeking a higher education the benefit of the doubt. To determine your eligibility for Federal student loans, you’ll need to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (or FAFSA). It’s a relatively short form that can make all the difference in helping you obtain a college degree. Aside from the fact that those eligible can apply for and receive low, fixed interest rate Federal student loans without a cosigner, an added advantage is that proof of need determined by the FAFSA might make you eligible for scholarships and grants. Those, of course, you don’t need to worry about paying back.
2. Attempting to get private student loans without a cosigner is considerably more difficult. In addition to the Federal Government, many private financial institutions also offer student loans. Their priorities for giving them, however, are very different. Whereas governmental student loans are a program concerned with making higher education more attainable, private institutions are all about getting their money back with interest. Therefore, credit history plays a much more important role in determining who they give student loans to. If you’ve just graduated high school and have no credit history, securing a private student loan without a cosigner is, in a word, tough. You’ll likely have to pay abhorrently high interest rates and fees, or be outright denied. The only real exceptions to this rule of thumb are students who can prove they have considerable assets coming to them which can serve as collateral for the debt they’re about to incur. If there’s one piece of information to take away from all of this, it’s to consider private student loans only if you’ve totally maxed out scholarships, grants, and Federal student loans.