Student Loan Eligibility
Unfortunately, not everyone has the financial capabilities to afford a college education easily. The good thing is that, if you are eligible for financial aid, you can complete your education even though you wouldn’t be able to do so otherwise. For this, you should learn the subject of Student Loan Eligibility, presented to you on this page.
While there are some financial aid programs like scholarships or grants that will help student students without any repayment requirements, these are only available for a really small number of people. But, don’t worry. Even if you cannot get a scholarship or a grant, you can get a student loan and cover your education costs. In fact, these days, most students use such loans to complete their education.
Eligibility for different types of student loans
As you probably know, when it comes to student loan options, there are various types. Federal student loans and private student loans are the main two types you can find. These types have different Student Loan Eligibility criteria.
Private student loans are offered by private lenders and can have different specific requirements to get. In general, they require you to have a certain level of credit score. And if your score is not quite high, you may need to bring someone in as your co-signer too.
Federal student loans are usually the better option if can get them. Because they offer better rates and terms. But even federal students loans have more than one type and each of them have different Student Loan Eligibility criteria.
Federal Student Loan Eligibility
While there are multiple federal student loan types with different criteria you need to meet to get, they do not usually require you to have a certain level of credit score (except one type that we will mention).
The first common requirement to get federal student loans is to be a U.S. citizen or be an acceptable resident. Essentially, you need a social security number too.
With most federal loans, you should also show that you need financial aid to complete your education. This separates them from private loans.
With most loan programs you need to be enrolled in an eligible degree or certificate program as a student. For direct loans, you must be enrolled for at least half-time education.
Some programs also expect you to show a particular academic performance with your grades.
In addition to these requirements, if you are a male and you are between the ages of 18 and 25, most federal student loan programs require you to be registered for the Selective Service (Unless you are a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic of Palau.). To get more information on this and register, you can call 1-888-655-1825 or get online and visit the ‘sss.gov’ web address. Alternatively, you can register while you are filing your FAFSA form too.
Private Student Loans Eligibility
For the Student Loan Eligibility criteria of private student loans, we cannot have a basic list that can cover all lenders.
Of course, there are a few essential rules that would work for any private loan. Such as;
- having a good credit score.
- having a low debt-to-income ratio.
- not to have too many other loans.
- if you have a low credit score or a lot of debt, having a co-signer.
But for more detailed requirements, we need to look at the details for each individual lender.
