How good of credit do you have? If it's decent, and by decent I by no means mean fantastic, you can easily get a loan.
You can get a private loan, @~8.75% interest, in any amount you choose, as long as it gets certified by the school. What does that mean? It means they will take your cost of attendance (which includes living, tuition, books, etc. All schools have this information available, it should be on the financial aid website), subtract any grants/loans you already have, and voila! The magic number is revealed for how much you can borrow.
For example, my school has determined that attending school and living off campus would require ~22K. Let's say I have a grant from the university for 7K and a scholarship for 2K. 22K - 7K -2K = 13K. That is how much I must come up with to meet their estimated cost of living. This would also be the number that you are allowed to borrow UP TO. You don't necessarily have to borrow all of it, but you can if you want.
Now, let's say that I don't have any grants or scholarships. That means I can borrow up to 22K, the full costs of attending the school. Do you see what I'm saying? You subtract what money you've already got from the estimated living expenses, and that is how much you can take out on a loan. Remember, you don't have to borrow all of it, so don't get yourself in trouble with too much loans.
Here's another question you might ask? Where can I get a private loan? Well shoot cowboy, anywhere that offers student loans? Wachovia, Citibank, Bank of America, ACS, Sallie Mae, all of these are just a few of the companies out there willing to lend you student loan money. You just go to their site, fill out the application for a private student loan, wait for them to tell you if they approved your credit or not, and then wait for them to send the info to the school for certification. If the school certifies it, the company will then either send you a check in the amount of the loan or your school will issue it.
Your school should have a list of financial loan institutions that they have regularly done business with, which is nice because that usually means your certification won't take as long. Find that list and use one of those loaners if you can.
Something else to remember: assuming you haven't taken out any loans, you will be eligible to get a Stafford loan. Let me explain further:
Stafford Subsidized Loan: Issued by many loan corporations (Wachovia, Citibank, etc. any school on that list will offer it). The interest on the loan is paid by the company while you are in school. That is what subsidized means; any interested accumulated during school is not something you have to worry about, the interest will only apply after you graduate. Payments do not begin until 6 months after you graduate or fall below full-time status. You can borrow up to $3500 if you are a dependent freshman, $4500 if you are a dependent sophomore, and $5500 if you are a dependent junior or senior. If you are independent (meaning no one can claim you on their tax return), you can borrow up to $7500, $8500, and $10,500, respectively. You must maintain SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress), which is determined by your school. My school requires 36 units per year and a minimum 2.0 GPA. Interest rate is currently at 6.8%.
Stafford Unsubsidized Loan: EXACTLY the same as a subsidized, except that you pay the interest while you are in school. It is capitalized each month (added to the principle); you also do not have to start payments until 6 months after you graduate or fall below full-time status. Interest rate is currently at 6.8%.
PLUS loan: Money you can get with your parents as cosigner. I would not recommend this, as you have to start paying it back right away.
Private loan: No maximum as to what you can borrow as long as it does not exceed your school calculated financial need (what I talked about earlier). Interest rates are higher, generally around 8.5%-9.5%, and are not subsidized; they build up while you are in school. Many private loans DO NOT have SAP requirements, so if you fail some classes you're out the cash for the class but you don't have to worry about being ineligible for further loan money. Only get loans that start payment 6 months after you graduate; you don't want to deal with payment before that.
For your situation, let's take that 24K you want to get in loans. Since you don't have a Stafford, guess what, you're eligible for it! Yay! Even better, you are eligible for BOTH subsidized and unsubsidized stafford loans. Lemme give you a breakdown:
Money needed: 24K
Subsidized Stafford Loan: $5500
Unsubsidized Stafford Loan: $5500
24K - 11K = 13K.
So now you've got to come up with 13K in loans. If you don't have any grants or scholarships, the path you want to take is a private loan. And what's nice is that you can borrow that full amount, all 13K. Of course, this is assuming that your calculated school cost minus any applied money is enough to cover that.
Phew! Thats pretty much a general sum of how you can get that needed money. I've been to the financial aid office before and they'll never spend any time explaining this stuff clearly, so I just took the time on my own as a freshman to do just that, instead of going to class.
PM me if you need any more help. Good luck and remember, whatever you take out, you've got to put back in.
Facebook
Twitter