Courtney Said:

Private Student loans for bad credit?

We Answered:

No legitimate lenders will approve big dollar educational loans for applicants with a poor credit history.

Think about this for a minute:

Would you lend a friend $20,000, if three other people told you that they had lent him money, and they'd had trouble getting their money back? What if some of them told you that he never paid the money back at all?

That's what your credit history is - your "references" from other lenders. By your own admission, your references are "bad", so why would another lender "trust" you with a big loan? Because you promise "cross my heart and hope to die" "pinkie swear" that you'll really really really pay this one back?

Lenders are conservative businesses. They "invest" their money in "sure things", like most financially prudent organizations. When they go outside their comfort zone and make risky loans, they wind up with high percentages of bad loans and collection problems. You will not find a legitimate lender who will make you a loan without a cosigner.

I don't know why you say that you don't have the option of the FAFSA, because the federal government makes their Stafford Loan program available to nearly every applicant. The Stafford Loan requires neither a cosigner nor a credit check, and the interest rates are low and fixed.

The Stafford program doesn't loan a lot of money to individual students (dependent students can get between $5500 and $7500, depending on their year in school), but the idea is that you shouldn't be looking at expensive schools if you don't have any money of your own to pay for them. There are plenty of colleges and universities in this country that you can attend for $5500 a year. The expensive out-of-state public universities and the private schools are for rich people who can afford them.

Sorry for the bad news, but if you "really do want to go to school", you will take advantage of the money that IS available to you (Stafford Loans), and select a very inexpensive educational option that you can afford. That's facing the reality of your situation - not looking for a student loan for people with poor credit.

Good luck to you.