If you’ve got to pay for college, one of the things you’ll probably need to do is figure out where you are going to get your student loans from. There are many different types of student loans available in the US, and some students (many, in fact) use several different types to fully fund their college education. One of these types of student loans is the uncertified student loan. What are uncertified student loans, and how do they differ from other types of student loans?
First, let’s take a brief look at the different types of student loans in the US. Some student loans are federal loans (such as the Stafford or Perkins loans), and the federal government supports these. There are also loans available through private lenders, or loans available with a cosigner.
The difference between certified and uncertified student loans
With a certified student loan, the school certifies to the lender that you’ll need this amount of money to go to school; with an uncertified student loan, the school is not part of the verification or approval process.
Just based on that, it sounds like an uncertified student loan is the way to go, but there are some catches. If you get a certified loan (one available whereby the school verifies that you need this certain amount of money to pay for tuition), you can usually do so without a cosigner. In some cases, you may also be able to get a certified student loan without having a credit score check. Most especially if you’re not getting any support from anybody (such as parents) to obtain the money for school, certified loans are a good option.
Uncertified loans, by contrast, mean that you don’t involve the school in the verification process for the loan; in other words, the school doesn’t have to verify that you need this specific, particular amount of money to go to school. However, because of this, the lender has other means by which the loan can be “supported” Therefore, for an uncertified loan, you are usually going to need a cosigner to cosign the loan with you.
There are benefits and drawbacks to both. With a certified loan, you usually are only going to get the money you need for tuition, but nothing else. In other words, you’re going to have to find money elsewhere to pay for educational expenses like books and a computer, food, living expenses, and so on. However, again, you won’t need a cosigner to get this loan.
With an uncertified loan, you probably will need a cosigner, true, but you can take out as much money as you need to so as to cover tuition and living expenses, etc. And as with other student loans, you are usually not going to have to pay interest on your loans until after you’ve graduated.
Which is right for you? That depends, but if you can get a cosigner, you will probably want to get an uncertified loan. If you are forced into getting a student loan without a cosigner, a certified loan will certainly pay for your educational expenses, if not other things.
Related posts: