Bad Credit Student Loan - What To Do If You Need One
By Mark Kessler, Thu Dec 8th

Are you concerned that bad credit will prevent you from goingto college? While it is true that finding student loans withexcellent interest rates is easier if you have a sterling creditrating, bad credit student loan aid is possible. For example,the most popular US Department of Education loan, the Staffordloan, assumes that most applicants will be going to collegestraight from high school, and will not have a credit ratingyet. Therefore, Stafford loans do not even consider the creditrating a factor when it comes to qualifications. The same holdstrue for Perkins loans, which are federal loans designated forthe neediest students.The only reason bad credit would interferewith these kinds of student loans are if you have defaulted on afederally granted student loan in the past.

Bad credit student loans are also possible if your parents havebetter credit than you do. In this case, a PLUS loan, which isgranted to parents and not to the student, might be the way togo. US Department of Education student loans (like Stafford andPerkins loans) assume that the parents will pay for a certainamount of their children's schooling; PLUS loans are intended tocover the amount that the parent is obligated to contributetoward college costs.

Federal funding is a good choice for a bad credit student loanbecause they are specifically designed to help make college moreaccessible; therefore, their requirements

are much looser thanthose of most banks and other lending companies. However, if youare unable to secure a US Department of Education student loan,you may need to turn to private loans. If you are planning tograduate in a field with a high earnings potential, like law ormedicine, you might have a better chance of receiving a badcredit student loan from private lenders.

None of these choices are either/or possibilities, by the way.You may be able to put together enough money to finance collegethrough a combination of any or all of the above types of loans.Moreover, even if your bad credit student loan is at a very highinterest rate, all is not lost. Many student loans defer paymentuntil you have finished college, giving you time to improve yourcredit rating. At that point, you might want to look into waysto consolidate your student loan at a better rate, lowering yourpayments to a more affordable level.

About the author:Mark Kessler's website offers a comprehensive free resource ofcollege financial aid for Consolidating Student Loans, as wellas... Alternative Student Loans, ACS, Bad Credit, US DepartmentOf Education Student Loans, including a variety student loanarticles.==> BadCredit Student Loan