Loans for International Students without Cosigners

While you’re thinking about quality education, you might need to spend more money, especially when you’re intending to study in a foreign country. For instance, studying in the US can be very expensive regardless of the quality of education. However, still many students try to find a solution to bear expenses. Therefore they seek student loans. Unfortunately, students may have to face difficulty managing cosigners for getting a student loan. So, we have come up with loans for international students without cosigners.

If you have no cosigner who can cosign to get the loan, you can go for some alternatives. Here are some alternative options you should explore to get a student loan.

What is a cosigner?

You might not consider getting a loan with a cosigner your first choice, still, you should know what a cosigner is. A cosigner is a person who agrees to bear the liability of the contract legally. Signing as a cosigner means, he/she will repay the loan if you can’t fulfill your loan payments.

If the loan remains unpaid, the lender has the right to sue you and your cosigner. Even the creditor is able to take money directly from your paychecks or bank accounts. And, the lender will likely report the late payments to the credit bureaus under both your and your cosigner’s name, which can hurt both of your credit histories in the U.S.

Getting Loans for International Students without Cosigners

If you want to get a student loan, you must fulfill some basic requirements to qualify for the loan. However, these requirements can vary depending on the type of loan or the lender.

There are many private organizations that offer loans only for citizens of the United States and permanent residents. In this case, you won’t be eligible for a loan as an international student until you can manage a cosigner who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

Luckily, there are some loan companies that offer loans for international students without cosigners. The basic requirements for getting that type of loan include

Attend an approved school
Come from a qualifying country
Be enrolled at least half-time in an eligible degree-granting program
Finish your program within two years
Live in the U.S. while attending school
Qualify for a student visa for entry into the U.S.
Verify your identity

Eligibility Requirements to qualify international student loan

Applying for a loan may not guarantee that you’ll get approved or receive a good offer. Lenders have various loan eligibility requirements, and your approval, loan amount, and interest rates can depend on:

Your credit history and score in the U.S., if you have one
Your cosigner’s creditworthiness (if you decide to use a cosigner)
Your employment and educational history
A copy of your bank statements, pay stubs, tax returns, and other financial documents
Your family’s financial statements, if they’re planning on supporting you while you’re at school
Your estimated future earnings

If you can meet the basic eligibility and loan requirements, you may be able to take out a private student loan and use the funds to pay for your school and living expenses.

Lenders that Provide Loans for International Students without Cosigners

Here is the good news to end your disappointment. There are several online lenders that offer loans and designed for international students and others who are facing trouble to qualify for a loan just because of a cosigner. Below you will find the top three online lenders for international students.

MPOWER Financing

MPOWER Financing, which is part of Nova Credit and Prodigy Finance offers student loans for both undergraduate and graduate students. This company focuses on international students and offers loans at a minimum 7.99% interest rate. In order to make up for the absence of a cosigner, MPOWER tends to give loans to students who have high earning potential.

However, MPOWER works as a partner of a particular university and provides loans for a few majors only. To be eligible for Mpower, you should be attending a school supported by Mpower and be in the last 2 years of your education. The repayment period of loans can be up to 10 years. This is why undergraduate students and students from lower-tier universities face difficulty to qualify for Mpower loans. On average, it takes 3 weeks for an end-to-end process with Mpower, and the funds are disbursed directly to the school.

Prodigy Finance

Prodigy finance only focuses on graduate students who are attending top-rated schools. you’ll need to be from one of the supported countries, attending one of the approved schools, and seeking a degree in a particular subject area. These subject are include

Business
Science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields
Public policy
Law
Health sciences, including dentistry, nursing, and public health

This list of partner universities and limited majors along with tough qualification guidelines make it difficult for students to qualify for a loan. The loans are originated from a U.K.-based entity, and the repayments are not reported to credit bureaus in the U.S.

Prodigy offers loans of up to $40,000 with a 4% admin fee. Rather than your credit history, the loan amount and interest rate may depend on your future earning potential. Prodigy attempts to determine this based on information from your application, data from the schools it supports, and past customers’ experiences.

Stilt

Stilt is another financing company that’s designed for international students and others who have difficulty obtaining a private or federal loan in the US. Stilt lends to immigrants, including international students and DACA holders, who can’t get a cosigner and have competitive interest rates starting at 7.99%.

The loan process is really quick while it has the lowest qualification requirements. You can get a decision within 24 hours after a complete application. The funds can be in your account as quickly as 1 business day after the promissory note is signed.STilt has no partnership with universities, so you can apply for Stilt international student loans from any university. Stilt is also the only option if you want to refinance your international student loan without a cosigner