Bad Credit Graduate Student Loans

So you've finished your bachelor's degree, and you're ready for bigger and better things. But even if you were lucky enough to get out of your undergraduate education without a lot of debt, it can be difficult to pay for graduate programs, particularly if you've had credit problems. Fortunately, there are a variety of public and private sources for bad credit graduate student loans.

The first step you should take is to fill out a FAFSA - the Federal Application for Financial Student Aid - and try to get assistance from the federal government. These loans often have much more reasonable interest rates than private loans, but they do have a lending cap. You can only borrow a certain amount of money, and that amount includes undergrad loans.

Depending on your career path, you might also be eligible for critical need loans. These are available to graduate students in fields where the need is particularly high - especially health sciences, like nursing and primary care. If this is your area of interest, you can get loans more easily, even with bad credit.

The reality for most students, however, is that federal funding won't be enough. You will probably need to go to a private lender. Some lenders are more reputable than others, so do your research. You will want to avoid predatory lenders and lending practices, because these can damage your credit score even more.

If you don't have a credit history, or if your score is very low, you will benefit significantly from having a co-signer on your loans. Usually, parents are a good choice, so you should consult yours if that's possible. The co-signer agrees to be partially responsible for paying back loans, and you can usually get more money.

Don't hesitate to use online resources and co-workers or friends to search for scholarships, fellowships, assistantships, or grants. These are all great ways to help fund your education, and because they're often awarded based on merit and not need, your finances won't be a problem.

Finally, you should work to improve your credit. A good way to do this is to use credit counseling services. Although many of these organizations are for-profit corporations, they can still be very useful. Loan consolidation is another good way to get out of debt.

You've already come this far - don't let your credit rating stop you. Do your research and you'll find a number of great bad credit graduate student loans.