AOS and student loans

[INF 96]

Hi there,

 

I am planning on going to graduate school. I have a pending I485 and I am married to a USCitizen. I was wondering if I had to take student loans out, can my husband take out a federal student loan on my behalf? Or do we take out student loans with a private lender where my husband is the cosigner?

 

Thank you in advance. 

Edited September 17, 2020 by INF

[SalishSea 18,148]

1 hour ago, INF said:

Hi there,

 

I am planning on going to graduate school. I have a pending I485 and I am married to a USCitizen. I was wondering if I had to take student loans out, can my husband take out a federal student loan on my behalf? Or do we take out student loans with a private lender where my husband is the cosigner?

 

Thank you in advance. 

Federal student loans cannot be taken out on behalf of someone else.  

 

You can probably get a private loan at a high rate of interest.

[Riley and SP 17]

On 9/16/2020 at 10:56 PM, INF said:

Hi there,

 

I am planning on going to graduate school. I have a pending I485 and I am married to a USCitizen. I was wondering if I had to take student loans out, can my husband take out a federal student loan on my behalf? Or do we take out student loans with a private lender where my husband is the cosigner?

 

Thank you in advance. 

No, unfortunately you can’t take a federal loan until you have your green card at hand. 
 

You can take a private loan. I am graduating law school with private loans. You need a U.S. citizen co-signer. The interest rate will depend on your co-signer credit score. My first three private loans are with pretty good interest rates (about 7%) which the school financial officer told me that this is almost the same as federal loan interest rate. At that point my co-signer’s credit score was about 780. My last private student loan is with over 9% interest rate but my co-signer’s credit score has dropped to 630 at that time. I am using Citizens and College Ave and like both of them. College Ave has an easier application process. Sally May also offers students loans to internationals with co-signer but I noticed that they have higher interest rates compared to the first two. 

Edited September 20, 2020 by Riley and SP

[INF 96]

14 hours ago, Riley and SP said:

No, unfortunately you can’t take a federal loan until you have your green card at hand. 
 

You can take a private loan. I am graduating law school with private loans. You need a U.S. citizen co-signer. The interest rate will depend on your co-signer credit score. My first three private loans are with pretty good interest rates (about 7%) which the school financial officer told me that this is almost the same as federal loan interest rate. At that point my co-signer’s credit score was about 780. My last private student loan is with over 9% interest rate but my co-signer’s credit score has dropped to 630 at that time. I am using Citizens and College Ave and like both of them. College Ave has an easier application process. Sally May also offers students loans to internationals with co-signer but I noticed that they have higher interest rates compared to the first two. 

Thanks so much! education is so expensive in the US! It’s unbelievable.

[Riley and SP 17]

On 9/21/2020 at 8:29 AM, INF said:

Thanks so much! education is so expensive in the US! It’s unbelievable.

I know. I was fortunate to receive a pretty good scholarship and that still left me with over $100k in loans. 
 

My advice is to wait (if you can) and apply for federal loans after you get your green card. You still can get a private loan with pretty good interest rate but the federal loans have other benefits - for example you can adjust payments depending on your income, there are certain jobs that offer loan forgiveness benefits, etc. 

 

Or you can apply now and see what scholarship you will receive! 😉