Direct Stafford Student Loans without Cosigner

Direct Stafford Student Loans without Cosigner

When you are looking at the various ways to pay for your education, you will inevitably come across Direct Stafford Loans. Once you’ve exhausted all forms of financing that do not have to be repaid, such as grants and college scholarships first, this will be your next stop. When you look to get this type of loan, you need to realize that there are two different types of Stafford student loans without cosigner involved – Direct and FFEL. Both loans are available for students who are graduate students or under graduate students who are enrolled at least half time in an accredited college or university in the United States. Either type of loan can be subsidized student loan or unsubsidized student loan. If the loan is subsidized, you will not be charged any interest until you start repaying the loan. If the loan is unsubsidized, you will be charged interest from the time that the loan is approved and disbursed, until it is paid off in full.

If your Direct Stafford Loans will be subsidized, you must show financial need to be eligible for the loan. If it will be unsubsidized, you do not have to show financial need. Both types of Stafford Loans have the same rate of interest. That interest rate is 6.0% (9-1-2009) if the loan is subsidized and 6.8% (9-1-2009) if it is not for under graduate students. However graduate students pay a 6.8% interest rate for subsidized or unsubsidized loans. Both can be used for student loans without cosigner included if a student has bad credit.

FFEL loans come from a private lender, such as a credit union or bank, if that lender participates in the Stafford Loan program. Direct loans come directly from the United States Department of Education. With either type of loan, you have between ten and twenty five years to repay the loan and the length of time that you have to repay depends on the amount that you have borrowed through the course of your education.

The amount of money that you can get with Direct Stafford student loans without a cosigner varies each year, and is determined by whether you are a dependent of your parents or an independent student, whether your parents were eligible for a PLUS loan, and whether you are a graduate student or an under graduate student. However, the total maximums that you can receive from these loans are $31,000 if you are a dependent under graduate, $57,500 if you are an independent undergraduate student and $138,500 if you are a graduate student. The amount for graduate students includes any amounts received as an under graduate as well.

If you apply for a Direct Stafford Loan (student loan without cosigner), your credit will not be checked, and the only way that you will be turned down is if you do not meet the eligibility requirements – meaning that you must be in school at least half time, have no present defaulted federal loans, or enrolled to attend half time. Of course, your funding could be cut off if your grade point average drops too low or your attendance record is poor.

Finally, the amount of your loan is determined by the maximums per school year, as well as the cost of your education, minus any other aid that you are receiving. Again, your credit does not matter when applying for this type of loan, and you do not have to start making payments on these loans until six months after you graduate –but if you drop out of school, or drop below half time before finishing your degree program, you will have to start paying the loan back immediately.

The Direct Stafford Student Loans are a nice solution for people with good or bad credit and in need of student loans without cosigner included. Federal government student loan programs offer good terms, rates and easy repayment alternatives and a panacea for a tarnished past credit history.

First Steps before applying for a No Cosigner Student Loan