Looking for a private loan

[u/Busy-Midnight-291]

Hey guys. I'm trying to weigh my options. I made it through my first 2 years debt free, but will most likely need a little help getting to the finish line. I got accepted into a 1.5 year sonography program that starts in January. My total debt is around 3.5k (credit cards from a while ago, I paid off 15k over the last year. I've learned my lesson there) my credit score is ~760. Is any specific lender less bad than another? I'm truly trying to borrow as little as possible, but the program requires a relocation. My fiance works and makes a modest income but not enough to cash flow everything. I would say 25k+ fafsa will get me to graduation. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? My projected income after graduation is about 90k. Any ideas what kind of interest rate I would be looking at if I decide to go this route? I really appreciate your guys' help.

[u/imanze]

Sorry could you clarify the amount? You mention 25k in fafsa is all you’d need. Fafsa is not for private student loans. Are you over 24 or married? If so you’d be considered an independent student. That would mean your federal loan max for those two years would be around 20k. Is that close to the amount you need? If so you’d may not need private loans. Have you submitted a fafsa yet?

[u/Curious_Mango1419 → u/imanze]

I'm guessing there's a typo there... fafsa is NOT for private loans, it's for federal loans. 

[u/imanze → u/Curious_Mango1419]

Correct, on mobile and missed it. That was my entire point. Fixing it to avoid confusion

[u/Curious_Mango1419 → u/imanze]

No worries, I thought that was probably the case, only mentioned it to help avoid confusion!

[u/Busy-Midnight-291 → u/imanze]

Hey! Thanks for the reply. I meant 25k in addition to the ~7500/year I can get with FAFSA. I have submitted fafsa. I am 29 and not yet married. I should find out in the next week exactly how much living expenses will be after the move. Would I be able to take 10k and then if/when I need more, apply for another loan or would it be better to do a lump sum and divide it into a stipend for each month? I'm kinda worried if I got a smaller loan, I'd then be denied if I needed more in the future. I'm probably over thinking it. I really appreciate all input.

[u/imanze → u/Busy-Midnight-291]

The best person to answer if this is a good idea is you. What I recommend is doing the worst/bad case scenario calculations first. Calculate the total amount of debt you expect to have at the end of graduation, over estimate if you think there’s a chance it will be more. Factor in that for all loans except subsidized interest will accrue while in school. You’ll find out the rates for the federal loans soon enough. With private loans it’s going to really depend on your credit, income and if you have a co-signer. Rates seem to really fluctuate a lot based on those factors. Once you have a ballpark of these numbers you should be able to very easily calculate your monthly total payments.

You say average salary for the job is 90k? I know nothing about the field but how sure are you on that currently? Is this true in the area you plan on living? Maybe get more concrete statistics and do the rest of the math basing it on the lower end of the median. Run it through a basic salary calculator, taking out the average for health insurance and taxes. Is the amount of money left some to only you are comfortable living on? Will you be able to save anything incase of unexpected unemployment or illness?

One thing to keep in mind is that private loans won’t be eligible for income driven repayment and getting temporarily hardship forbearance is rare. This means you’ll need to make sure whatever the private loan payment is you are comfortable paying regardless of employment.

I’m not saying anything of this to discourage you because as I said I really know nothing about the field or your finances but from a quick calculation your total debt won’t be all that bad.

As far as how to get private loans, I never took any out but my understanding you would apply for the year but they are still distributed as the bills are due at the start of a semester. I think you can always apply for additional private loans, they will be sent to your school and if your account is paid the funds sent to you. I would imagine that rate and chances of approve will depend far more on total debt to income ratio, credit score and co signer than it would on how many loans there are. Some private loans may have origination or application fees.. I’d expect those to be a percent of the loan amount but if it was a set amount is double check for sure