My father cosigned a private student loan for me last year, but is unable to cosign another loan for me this year. How can I get the money I need to pay for college tuition?
Most new private student loans require the borrower to have a creditworthy cosigner. This includes more than 90% of new private student loans to undergraduate students and more than 75% of new private student loans to graduate and professional students. But, what if the student doesn’t have a creditworthy cosigner? How can a student get student loans without a cosigner?
Options for students who don’t have a creditworthy cosigner are limited.
Federal student loans, including the Direct Loan, Perkins Loan, and PLUS Loan, do not require the borrower to have a cosigner. (If the borrower of a PLUS Loan has an adverse credit history, the borrower may still qualify if he or she has an endorser who does not have an adverse credit history. The endorser is similar to a cosigner. The other federal student loans do not consider the borrower’s credit history.)
Apply for an Edly IBR, No-Cosigner, Income-Based Repayment Loan
- MUST BE a US citizen or permanent resident
- MUST attend an Edly-supported school
- Cosigner and Non-Cosigner student loan products available
- Income-based repayment with built-in protections, like hardship forbearance if you lose your job
- Pre-qualify without affecting your credit score
Edly IBR Student Loans are unsecured personal student loans issued by FinWise Bank, a Utah chartered bank, Member FDIC. All loans are subject to eligibility criteria and review of creditworthiness and history. Terms and conditions apply.
Loans from $5,000 - $10,000 per semester, with a $20,000 aggregate maximum and repayment terms of 84 months (Edly IBR No Cosigner Loan), and loans from $5,000 - $15,000 per semester, with a $25,000 aggregate maximum and repayment terms of 84 months (Edly IBR Cosigner Loan).
1. Loan Example (IBR No Cosigner Student Loan):
$10,000 Tuition Amount with Salary of $65,000. Loan is funded in September, borrower graduates in May.
- Tuition Amount: $10,000
- Origination fee: $400 (4%)
- Loan Amount: $10,400
- Gross income payment percentage: 7%
- Number of Fixed Payments: 12
- Initial Payment Amount: $200
- Number of Payments at gross income payment percentage: 62
- IBR Payment Amount: $379.17
- Final Payment to reach Payment Cap: $91.46
- Total Number of Payments: 75
- Total Payment Amount: $26,000.00
- Effective APR: 24.6%
2. Additional Loan Example (IBR No Cosigner Student Loan):
$10,000 Tuition Amount with Salary at Minimum Income Threshold, $30,000. Loan is funded in September, graduates in May.
- Tuition Amount: $10,000
- Origination fee: $400 (4%)
- Loan Amount: $10,400
- Gross income payment percentage: 7%
- Number of Fixed Payments: 12
- Initial Payment Amount: $200
- Number of Payments at gross income payment percentage: 72
- IBR Payment Amount: $175
- Total Number of Payments: 84
- Total Payment Amount: $15,000.00
- Effective APR: 9.7%
3. Additional Loan Example (IBR Cosigner Student Loan): $10,000 Tuition Amount with early payoff. Loan is funded in September, graduates in May, and is paying off early in September of the following year.
- Tuition Amount: $10,000
- Origination fee: $400 (4%)
- Loan Amount: $10,400
- Gross income payment percentage: 7%
- Number of Initial Payments: 6
- Initial Payment Amount: $100
- Number of Payments at gross income payment percentage: 3
- IBR Payment Amount: $379.17
- Total Number of Payments: Early Payoff after 12 months
- Remaining loan balance: $11,188.20
- Total Payment Amount: $12,925.71
- Effective APR: 27.09%
4. Additional Loan Example (IBR Cosigner Student Loan): $10,000 Tuition Amount with Salary of $65,000. Loan is funded in September, graduates in May.
- Tuition Amount: $10,000
- Origination fee: $400 (4%)
- Loan Amount: $10,400
- Gross income payment percentage: 7%
- Number of Initial Payments: 6
- Initial Payment Amount: $100
- Number of Payments at gross income payment percentage: 45
- IBR Payment Amount: $379.17
- Final Payment Amount: $206.86
- Total Number of Payments: 46
- Total Payment Amount: $17,869.51
- Effective APR: 24.7%
About these examples:
These are examples. Your specific terms will be provided if you are approved. In examples 1 and 2, a student defers while in school and post-graduation grace period for 11 months and then makes the minimum payment for 8 months followed by the income based payments. In example 3, a student or co-signer defers for two months, then makes the minimum monthly payment for 6 months while the student is in school and then pays off the loan in month 12. In example 4, a student or co-signer defers for two months and then makes the minimum monthly payments for 6 months while in school followed by income based payments beginning 9 months after taking the loan. For co-sign loans, the student or co-signer must make payments while the student is in school. The initial payment schedule is set upon receiving final terms and upon confirmation by your school of the loan amount. You may also repay this loan by paying off the loan balance, which is accrued at the interest rate, at any time. Please refer to your loan agreement or call us for your payoff amount. In examples 1 and 2, the maximum amount you will pay is $26,000 (not including Late Fees and Returned Check Fees, if any). In examples 3 and 4, the maximum amount you will pay is $26,000 (not including Late Fees and Returned Check Fees, if any). The maximum number of regularly scheduled payments you will make is 84. No payment is required if the student’s gross earned income is below $30,000 annually or if the student loses his or her job and cannot find employment. This does not apply for co-sign loans. Interest will accrue at the Interest Rate of 23.66% (no cosign) and 23.7% (cosign) on the unpaid loan balance during the life of the loan including during any deferral periods. The effective APR differs from the Interest Rate and considers fees and reflects the cost of your loan as a yearly rate. For more information about the effective APR, see reference notes. See your loan agreement for additional information regarding your prepayment options, including how to prepay at the Pre-Payment Cap. Edly Student IBR Loans are unsecured personal student loans issued by FinWise Bank, a Utah state-chartered bank, Member FDIC. All loans are subject to eligibility criteria and review of creditworthiness and history. Terms and conditions apply.
State Specific Restrictions:
Not available in Iowa, Colorado, Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Connecticut, Nebraska.
Not available in US territories.
There is a minimum loan requirement of $7,000 in Massachusetts.
Some state loans do not require cosigners, but the borrower must have very good credit scores. Small local banks and credit unions do not require a cosigner for personal or signature loans. Secured loans, such as home equity loans and lines of credit, often do not require a cosigner.
Mortgages and other secured loans involve a different set of risks than student loans. If you default on a home equity loan or HELOC, you can lose the home. If you default on a federal or private student loan, the lender cannot repossess your education.
Students who are seeking a private student loan should consider casting a wider net for potential cosigners, not just parents. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, older siblings and other relatives may be eligible to serve as cosigners. However, these relatives may be less forgiving than the student’s parents if the student defaults on the loan and ruins the cosigner’s credit. It can lead to awkward holiday dinners.
Alternately, relatives who are unwilling to cosign a private student loan might be willing to borrow on the student’s behalf on their own. The relative will make the payments on the loan, safeguarding their credit, and the student makes payments to the relative to cover the cost of the loan payments. It is often best to have such a scenario memorialized in a formal written agreement such as a loan promissory note to have the student make the payments on the relative’s loan. Otherwise, disputes can arise as to the nature of the assistance from the relative.