Is There Such A Thing As Bad Credit Student Loans?

When I was younger, I absolutely destroyed my credit. I got two student credit cards in my first year of school and it all went downhill from there. My parents hadn’t taught me about credit and honestly, my money management in general was just terrible. Since my parents couldn’t help me with school, paying for it was always very difficult.

My credit score was terrible – actually under 500. Getting loans was quite difficult. Anyone that wanted to check my credit would deny me. I couldn’t get a cell phone or a satellite dish so it seemed safe to assume that I couldn’t get any type of loan. I didn’t believe that student loans would ever work for me.

My undergraduate studies were honestly quite a challenge for me. Mostly this was the case because I didn’t think I could get loans. I would work for a while and then go to school for a while. Doing school this way takes a really long time. Now I know that I could have taken out student loans even though my credit was terrible.

Stafford loans are provided by a lending institution and secured by the federal government. This takes away the risk for the bank. If you default on your loan, the federal government will repay your loan to the bank. They will of course then come after you for the money.

Economically, it makes perfect sense for the government to loan money to students. Even students that have bad credit will increase their lifetime earnings significantly if they graduate from college. The government knows they will get more in taxes if they can get more people to finish school.

Qualifying for Stafford loans is actually quite simple. First, you will need to be a citizen of the United States that is 18 years old. Yes, minors can go to college. However, they can not legally get loans without a cosigner.

If you have a default on a student loan from the past, it will become quite difficult to get Stafford loans. Your only option at that point will be to pay off the defaulted loan. If you’ve never defaulted, chances are you’ll be approved without any problem.

Honestly I wish that I had known about this type of loan while I was in college. It would have saved me a lot of wasted time. Working through school and taking semesters off can really damage your ability to finish school quickly. Taking out loans can solve this issue.

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