8 Student Loans for Bad Credit or No Credit

Key facts

Pros

• More flexible repayment options for struggling borrowers than other lenders.

• Subsidized loans do not collect interest while in school or during deferment.

• Lower interest rates compared with private lenders.

Cons

• You pay an origination fee.

Qualifications

• No credit check or minimum income is needed to borrow.

• Loan amounts for undergraduates: $5,500 year one, $6,500 year two, $7,500 year three and thereafter, up to a total of $31,000

• Independent students and graduate students have higher loan limits.

• Undergraduate interest rate fixed at 3.73%, while grad students get higher 5.28% rate

Available Term Lengths

10 to 25 years once repayment begins, depending on the repayment plan.

Key facts

Pros

• You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.

• More flexible repayment options than other lenders.

• Six-month grace period extension is available.

Cons

• You must be at least halfway through your repayment term before you can request a co-signer release.

Qualifications

• Typical credit score of approved borrowers: Mid-700s.

• Minimum income: $35,000 per year.

• Loan amounts: $1,000 up to cost of attendance.

Available Term Lengths

5, 8, 10 or 15 years

Disclaimer

College Ave Student Loans products are made available through Firstrust Bank, member FDIC, First Citizens Community Bank, member FDIC, or M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB, member FDIC.. All loans are subject to individual approval and adherence to underwriting guidelines. Program restrictions, other terms, and conditions apply. As certified by your school and less any other financial aid you might receive. Minimum $1,000. Rates shown are for the College Ave Undergraduate Loan product and include autopay discount. The 0.25% auto-pay interest rate reduction applies as long as a valid bank account is designated for required monthly payments. Variable rates may increase after consummation. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a freshman borrower who selects the Flat Repayment Option with an 8-year repayment term, has a $10,000 loan that is disbursed in one disbursement and a 7.78% fixed Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 54 monthly payments of $25 while in school, followed by 96 monthly payments of $176.21 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $18,266.38. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a freshman borrower who selects the Deferred Repayment Option with a 10-year repayment term, has a $10,000 loan that is disbursed in one disbursement and a 8.35% fixed Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 120 monthly payments of $179.18 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $21,501.54. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. Information advertised valid as of 12/21/2022. Variable interest rates may increase after consummation. Approved interest rate will depend on the creditworthiness of the applicant(s), lowest advertised rates only available to the most creditworthy applicants and require selection of full principal and interest payments with the shortest available loan term.

Key facts

Pros

• Forbearance of 24 months is longer than many lenders offer.

• No late fees.

Cons

• Only offers 2 loan terms.

Qualifications

• Typical credit score of approved borrowers or co-signers: 670.

• Minimum income: No minimum income.

• Loan amounts: $1,001 or $2,001, based on residency and school location, up to cost of attendance minus other aid received.

Available Term Lengths

10 or 15

Key facts

Pros

• Among the best for payment flexibility.

• Grace period of 9 months is longer than most lenders.

Cons

• International students are not eligible.

• Freshmen, sophomores and those enrolled less than half-time are not eligible for future-income based loan.

Qualifications

• Typical credit score of approved borrowers: Did not disclose.

• Minimum income: $24,000 per year for credit-based loan. No minimum for future-income based loan.

• Loan amounts: $2,001 to $200,000 per year with an aggregate loan limit of $200,000 for credit-based loan. $2,001 to $20,000 per year for future-income based loan.

Available Term Lengths

5, 7, 10, 12 or 15 years

Disclaimer

Ascent Student Loans are funded by Bank of Lake Mills, Member FDIC. Loan products may not be available in certain jurisdictions. Certain restrictions, limitations; and terms and conditions may apply. For Ascent Terms and Conditions please visit: www.AscentFunding.com/Ts&Cs. Rates are effective as of 1/1/2023 and reflect an automatic payment discount of either 0.25% (for credit-based loans) OR 1.00% (for undergraduate outcomes-based loans). Automatic Payment Discount is available if the borrower is enrolled in automatic payments from their personal checking account and the amount is successfully withdrawn from the authorized bank account each month. For Ascent rates and repayment examples please visit: AscentFunding.com/Rates. 1% Cash Back Graduation Reward subject to terms and conditions. Cosigned Credit-Based Loan student must meet certain minimum credit criteria. The minimum score required is subject to change and may depend on the credit score of your cosigner. Lowest APRs require interest-only payments, the shortest loan term, and a cosigner, and are only available to our most creditworthy applicants and cosigners with the highest average credit scores.

Key facts

Pros

• You don't need a co-signer or credit history to get a loan.

• You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.

Cons

• Loans aren't available in 14 states.

• Payment required while in school and during the grace period.

Qualifications

• Typical credit score of approved borrowers: 650.

• Minimum income: No minimum, but borrowers must demonstrate they can pay $20 per month toward their loan.

• Loan amounts: $3,001 up to $10,000.

Available Term Lengths

10 years

Key facts

Pros

• GPA is used to determine eligibility instead of credit or a co-signer.

• Offers a hard-to-find, temporary income-based repayment option for up to 36 months.

• All borrowers get the same fixed rate, benchmarked to the federal PLUS loan rates.

Cons

• Works with a limited list of schools.

• Charges an origination fee.

• Does not allow for bi-weekly payments via autopay.

Qualifications

• Typical credit score of approved borrowers: Credit and a co-signer are not required. Approval is based on GPA.

• Minimum income: No minimum. Approval is based on GPA.

• Loan amounts: $2,001 up to the full cost of attendance, maximum $50,000

Available Term Lengths

10 years

Key facts

Pros

• Offers a hard-to-find option: non-co-signed student loans for international and DACA students.

• Borrowers are assigned a dedicated student loan advisor.

• Borrowers can request forbearance of up to 24 months, which is longer than many lenders offer.

Cons

• Payment required while in school and during the grace period.

• Offers only one repayment term: 10 years.

Qualifications

• MPOWER considers future income potential but does not factor in credit scores.

• Loan amounts: Minimum $2,001. Maximum loan is $100,000, limited to $25,000 per academic period.

Available Term Lengths

10 years

Disclaimer

Note: Our loan does not support Canadian citizens studying in Canada. Canadian Permanent Residents and U.S. citizens are considered “international” when studying in Canada. International students, U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, and DACA recipients in the U.S. or Canada. ‘International’ means you are a non-U.S. citizen or U.S. non-permanent resident studying at a university in the U.S., or you are a non-Canadian citizen or Canadian non-permanent resident studying at a university in Canada. ‘DACA’ means the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals Program initiated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2012. In order to qualify as a DACA Student, you must have applied for, and been granted, DACA status by USCIS. As a graduate student, you can borrow with a fixed interest rate of 12.99% (13.98% APR¹). This is the maximum rate and will not increase. However, MPOWER offers borrowers a way to qualify for a discount; a 0.25% rate discount is possible by making your loan payments through automatic withdrawal from your bank account. If you qualify for this discount, your rate will be 12.74% (13.72% APR²). ¹[International graduate student with regular interest rate] The APR is calculated using the following assumptions: A loan is approved in the amount of US$10,000 with a 5% origination fee of US$500. The student will start making payments 45 days after loan disbursement. Payments will be interest only until graduation, plus an additional 6-month grace period. The remaining months of repayment are calculated using a 120-month amortization schedule. All payments are made on-time, a forbearance is never utilized, and there is no pre-payment of any principal. At an APR of 13.98%, the monthly payment amount is US$113.66 for the first 30 months. For the next 120 months, the monthly payment amount is about $156.71. ²[International graduate student with discounted interest rate] The APRs with discounts are calculated using the following assumptions: A loan is approved in the amount of $10,000 with a 5% origination fee of US$500. The student will start making payments 45 days after loan disbursement. The borrower signs up for automatic debit immediately after the loan is disbursed and remains on it for the life of the loan, which reduces the rate by 0.25%. At an APR of 13.72%, the monthly payment is US$111.47 for the first 30 months. For the last 120 payments, the monthly amount is US$155.17. Undergraduate Students in the U.S. or Canada Note: Our loan does not support Canadian citizens studying in Canada. Canadian Permanent Residents and U.S. citizens are considered “international” when studying in Canada. International students, U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, and DACA recipients in the U.S. or Canada. ‘International’ means you are a non-U.S. citizen or U.S. non-permanent resident studying at a university in the U.S., or you are a non-Canadian citizen or Canadian non-permanent resident studying at a university in Canada. ‘DACA’ means the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals Program initiated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2012. In order to qualify as a DACA Student, you must have applied for, and been granted, DACA status by USCIS. As an undergraduate student, you can borrow with a fixed interest rate of 13.99% (15.01% APR³). This is the maximum rate and will never increase. However, MPOWER offers borrowers a way to qualify for a discount; a 0.25% rate discount is possible by making your loan payments through automatic withdrawal from your bank account. If you qualify for this discount, your rate will be 13.74% (14.75% APR⁴). ³[International undergraduate student with regular interest rate] The APR is calculated using the following assumptions: A loan is approved in the amount of $10,000 with a 5% origination fee of $500. The student will start making payments 45 days after loan disbursement. Payments will be interest only until graduation plus an additional 6-month grace period. The remaining months of repayment are calculated using a 120-month amortization schedule. All payments are made on-time, a forbearance is never utilized, and there is no pre-payment of any principal. At an APR of 15.01%, the monthly payment amount is $122.41 for the first 30 months. For the next 120 months, the monthly payment amount is $162.97. ⁴[International undergraduate student with discounted interest rate] The APRs with discounts are calculated using the following assumptions: A loan is approved in the amount of US$10,000 with a 5% origination fee of US$500. The student will start making payments 45 days after loan disbursement. The borrower signs up for automatic debit immediately after the loan is disbursed and remains on it for the life of the loan, which reduces the rate by 0.25%. A forbearance is never utilized and there is no prepayment of any principal. At an APR of 14.75%, the monthly payment is US$120.22 for the first 30 payments. For the last 120 payments, the monthly amount is US$161.39.

Key facts

Pros

• No credit history required.

• Available to students without a co-signer.

• No payment required if borrower's income is less than $30,000 per year.

Cons

• Borrowers have to repay 2.25X the borrowed amount if they want to pay off the loan early.

• Not available to freshmen and sophomores receiving a four-year degree.

• Not available to borrowers in Colorado, Maine, Vermont and West Virginia.

Available Term Lengths

5 years of payments and up to 10 years with deferment periods.