If you are an international student who desires to get a loan for your study in the United States but discouraged because you don’t have a cosigner and most of the loans available for international students in the U.S. require a cosigner, then this article is for you.
Why? Because we will be listing out various International student loans you can apply for without a cosigner. Endeavor to read this article to the end to retrieve all the information that will be helpful to you.
Who is a Cosigner?
A cosigner is a person who can legally sign loan papers or documentation to help the other person obtain a loan. The cosigner must be a US citizen or permanent resident, with good credit, income history and who has lived in the USA for the past 2 years.
The cosigner makes a legal agreement to be jointly responsible for the repayment of the loan if the borrower should fail to pay their debts in a timely manner. See Best International Loan for African Students.
Some lenders will not require a cosigner if you meet specific criteria including attending an eligible school, demonstrate high career potential, and plan on graduating within the next two years.
You can use a loan comparison tool to see if you’re eligible to apply for a loan without a cosigner. Here are Students loan for international students that don’t require a cosigner
Federal Student Loans for International Students Without Cosigners
All federal student loans do not have cosigners.
Here are the types of federal student loans you may be qualified for. Note that all federal student loans have origination fees.
- Direct Subsidized Loans
- Direct Unsubsidized Loans
- Direct PLUS Loans
1. Direct Subsidized Loans
These loans provide students with flexible repayment terms along with low, fixed interest rates. These loans are provided to students based on their financial need, and the government pays the accrued interest while students are in school and during the grace period (6 month period after leaving school when payments aren’t yet due).
2. Direct Unsubsidized Loans
Contrary to subsidized loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans are available for all students regardless of financial need.
The government does not, however, pay accrued interest while students are in school or at any other time. These loans do have the same low interest and many repayment options, though.
3. Direct PLUS Loans
These loans are available to graduate students (Grad PLUS Loans) and parents of students (Parent PLUS Loans). Interest rates are higher than the other two types of loans but there are multiple repayment plans available.
Private Student Loans for International Students Without Cosigners
If you are not qualified for federal student loans, don’t be discouraged, because there are also private student loans for international students that don’t require a cosigner.
Here are three online private lenders designed specifically for international students without cosigners:
- Stilt
- MPOWER
- Prodigy Finance
1. Stilt
Stilt’s loans are specifically designed for international students and others who may have difficulty in getting a private or federal loan in the United States.
Stilt lends to immigrants, including international students and DACA holders, who cannot get a cosigner.
Stilt’s loans have competitive interest rates starting at 7.99% and the loan process is very quick—you can get a decision within 24 hours after completing an application. The funds can be in your account as quickly as one business day after the promissory note is signed.
Stilt doesn’t partner with universities, so you are eligible to apply irrespective of the university you attend. Another benefit of Stilt’s loans is that they can help you build your credit score.
2. MPOWER
MPOWER Financing also focuses on international students who don’t have a cosigner but have high earning potential.
MPOWER partners with universities and provides loans only for a few majors. To qualify for MPOWER, you should be attending a school supported by MPOWER and be in the last 2 years of your education.
Interest rates start at 11.99 percent and the loans have repayment periods up to 10 years. As a result of this, it can be difficult for undergraduate students and students at lower-tier universities to qualify.
MPOWER disburses funds directly to the school.
3. Prodigy Finance
Prodigy Finance has seen great success and hopes to grow tremendously in the future. The downside, though, is that they have tough qualification guidelines.
The list of partner universities and majors is limited. Prodigy is focused on loans to international students who attend Master’s programs.
They only offer loans to students at the highest-ranked universities and even restrict the areas of study that they will cover.
Conclusion
That was all on Student Loan For International Students without a Cosigner, you can contact us using the comment section if you have any questions on this topic.
