How to Get a Private International Student Loan in the US?

Education in the United States is known to be one of the best in the world and can give you the career boost you need. But going abroad and actually studying in the United States can be very hard to do because of the very high university costs and lack of federal student aid for international students. This means that many international students need to get a student loan in order to afford college or graduate school in the US. Getting accepted might have been easy for you, but being able to finance university in the United States will be a little more challenging.

What you need to know about international student loans in the US

As already mentioned, international students are not eligible to receive state student loans, which means they are fully dependent on private student loans. Nowadays, there are some universities and colleges that support international students by giving out small loans to them. The good news is that they usually don’t require a cosigner to cosign the loan agreement; the bad news is that these loans amounts are very small and won’t cover the entire cost of your education.

If you need to cover the full cost of your studies there are several banks such as Discover, Citizens Bank or SunTrust Bank’s Union Federal to check out that give out loans to international students.The downside to these loan options is that you will need to get a cosigner who is a United States citizen or permanent resident – to put the stressful cherry on top, your cosigner also needs to have a very good credit history. Something that is outside of your control when you are looking to get a loan.

Other options you have are online lenders such as EDvestinU, Prodigy Finance or MPOWER Financing. Although EDvestinU requires you to have a cosigner in order to get your loan, Prodigy Finance and MPOWER Financing does not require you have a cosigner. With these companies, however, you will need to fulfill certain requirements like having high test scores and an attractive career that indicates a high earning potential after you graduate.

Don’t forget about scholarships and grants! This is essentially free money that you won’t ever have to pay back, making it an attractive option for students of all kinds. There are several scholarships for international students that you can research or ask your international office at your university about. You should make sure you fill out scholarship applications very well so that you increase your chances of getting a scholarship in the United States. If you are considering getting a student loan, you should also ask financial institutions in your home country about options they have for students going to study abroad. This might be easier for you to do depending on how simple it is to get a loan in your home country.

How to find the perfect loan in the US?

In order to find your perfect student loan, you need to start researching and making a list of all financial institutions that give out student loans to international students. You then need to compare them until your eyes start to bleed! Find out about their interest rates, repayment terms, penalties, etc. Then the next step is to figure out whether you are eligible to receive a loan or not. The most important factors in this process include your nationality, the university you are planning to go to, your degree, and whether you have a cosigner for your loan or not.

Documentation needed for loan application

Once you have found the perfect loan, you will have to gather a lot of information to submit to potential lenders, such as your school and personal information. Regarding personal information, the lender usually wants to know more about your current financial situation and will request documents to verify your monthly income and the debts you have pending to pay back. Based on this information, they decide whether you get the loan or not and calculate how much money you are going to receive. Some lenders even require additional information from you, such as the amount of your tuition fee, university housing, and health insurance. The exact information they require depends on each lender.

Once you have submitted all information needed they will determine if you are eligible to get the loan or not.

Please make sure to compare different financial institutions when you have decided to get a loan since some loans might have higher interest rates than others. If you want to explore all the options available to you to help pay for your university in the United States or want more tips on the process of getting a loan, check out other articles on the site.

We hope this article has helped you understand the process of getting a student loan as an international student in the US. If you have any further questions or experiences you want to share, please feel free to contact us. Other than that, we wish you the best of luck during your university application process and on your student financial aid journey. We hope you have an amazing experience at your new university in the US.

About Stilt:

Stilt provides loans to international students and working professionals in the U.S. (F-1, OPT, H-1B, O-1, L-1, TN visa holders) at rates lower than any other lender. Stilt is committed to helping immigrants build a better financial future.

We take a holistic underwriting approach to determine your interest rates and make sure you get the lowest rate possible.

Learn what others are saying about us on Google, Yelp, and Facebook or visit us at https://stilt.com. If you have any questions, send us an email at team@stilt.co.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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