Private Education Loans To Supplement Federal Funding
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A lot of the Federal student loan schemes need no credit check to be carried out and provide a student with significant financial aid. These programs are however based upon need and frequently carry other criteria which might make it hard to qualify. Even if students do qualify, these loans only cover part of the total education bill in many cases. If students find themselves in that position then they may look to private alternative college loans to make up the shortfall.
Private alternative educational loans too have their own problems. A credit check will nearly always be required and this is not a problem as long as you have a good credit history. The problem is that ‘good’ is a relative term and if your credit history is not quite good enough then you may find that you are paying higher than the usual rates of interest.
Beyond the stated interest rate there are other monetary implications of alternative loans. Fees are generally added on to nominal loan amounts and a reasonably small loan of $3,000 can easily have fees of 4% applied prior to distribution. This means that $120 of the total loan will not be seen by the borrower but nevertheless has to be paid back. As a guide, every 3% of fees is equal to 1% added to the normal interest rate.
However private alternative loans do have a couple of advantages.
The first and perhaps most obvious advantage is that money is readily available. Private lenders make their money from the interest and fees that they charge and so have an interest in making funds available to borrowers and will try very hard to see that every borrower qualifies for a loan. Government lenders by contrast are bound by a rigid set of criteria and there is frequently no real appeal if your loan application is turned down.
Not having to deal with that unfriendly and frequently irrational bureaucracy is another benefit of private loans. Alternative lenders have customer service departments that are there to deal with queries so that customers can get the answers that they need. Federal loan schemes typically have help available too but the answers one gets are more miss that hit when it comes to quality.
Other practical considerations which make alternative loans especially desirable include:
The fact that parents and students do not have to fill out FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid) forms and provide a mountain of additional documentation. Private loan applications tend to be far simpler and the entire process is easier. But, interest rates and fees could be higher or lower according to the individual loan program.
The best private loans have zero fees and rates of interest that are roughly equal to the prime rate. The ‘prime rate’ is the rate that banks charge one another or their biggest and special customers. Getting an interest rate at prime is a very good deal and getting a rate at 1% below prime is a truly great deal.
To get that type of loan it is usually necessary to have a great credit history or to apply for the loan with a co-signer to the loan who has a very good credit history.
Finally, the only way to find out whether an alternative loan will satisfy your requirements is to get out into the marketplace and take a look at exactly what is available.
