What kind of Private loans should I look into?
I am a full-time student, and I eventually might have to look into Private loans to help fund my college education and living expenses. What loans should I look for, and where should I look?
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Go to Free Open University and save your money. Keep your job and pay your way Free Open University cost nothing. Most of the textbooks are free.
Jnaujo:
Honestly?
Any kind you can get.
The news is taking a long time to trickle down through the affected students, but the private educational loan market was eviscerated by the worldwide banking and lending crisis. At least 80% of the lenders who once made these loans have either folded, or are no longer accepting private loan applications. The lenders that have folded were many of the most active participants in this market – names like Astrive, Campus Door, My Rich Uncle, and NextStudent..
Other lenders have failed and been merged into other banking institutions – Wachovia is now part of Wells Fargo, but Wachovia had long since pulled out of the private educational loan market, anyway.
There are a handful of major lenders who are still accepting private student loan applications (don't confuse this with the number of lenders who are still making Stafford and PLUS loans) – we're talking Wells Fargo, Chase, Citi, and a few more.
You'll need to be prepared for the fact that ALL of these lenders have tightened the screws on student lending – it is almost IMPOSSIBLE for students to qualify for a private educational loan without a cosigner. Even that's not as simple as it sounds, because the lenders are quite picky about who they'll accept as a cosigner, too.
Apply for the loan when you've registered for classes. Most lending products require that your loan be "certified", which means that the lender will need to contact your school to verify your enrollment, and to determine your Cost of Attendance and unmet need. You should anticipate a high probability of being asked for a cosigner, and be prepared to provide a highly creditworthy individual for this purpose.
I hope that helped – good luck.