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What is the fastest way to get a private, direct-to-consumer, student loan?

Nov 22, 2008 by HiveImperious | Posted in Financial Aid

A brawny number of college students receive financial assistance from a grant, work-ruminate on program, or Federal student loan. However, due to rising college tuition, traditional financial aid doesnt always the expense.

Are any DTC (Direct To Consumer) student loans available?

Jun 01, 2009 by Briana N | Posted in Financial Aid

If there are any DTC (Direct To Consumer) student loans on tap can you please leave a link for them or all the information available.
I already applied at Wells Fago and wasn't approved :^(.

Most lenders no longer bid the DTC loan. Consider and compare other options like a PLUS loan or a school certified private student loan.

There are some laudatory articles about credit that you should read at www.StudentPlatinum.com

Eliminate Student Loans Bankruptcy Forgiveness Consolidation Federal Private New York

Bankruptcy Lawyers Liable Consolidation Attorneys Mortgage Foreclosure Bencher Frozen Bank Accounts and Wage Garnishment Attorney Solvency Card Relief ...

International Student Essentials for 2010

With the new year now upon us, 2010 already looks to be another big year for international education. As we reported in our Financial Aid Blog, 2009 saw record numbers in the USA for international students with a large 8% increase in the numbers from the previous year. With the worldwide recession and the recent tightening of air security some think that students could be discouraged from studying abroad – but we at InternationalStudent.com believe strongly that, with ongoing government initiatives, the support of the international education community and a little push from us, the overall numbers will continue to grow!

The financial scenario for international students has changed over the past two years, mainly due to the recession which has had a large impact on the availability of financial aid and international student loans. We’ll address the current loan situation below. There are also exciting new resources available to students, new technology and social networks, that were not available to students previously.

The purpose of this post is to provide students with some guidance for 2010, highlighting some changes and pointing out valuable resources to consider for the year ahead.

The good news is that loans are still available to international students in the US, and for US students studying abroad.   As always, a US co-signer is required.  You can apply for up to the total cost of education, minus any other aid you receive. Visit International Student Loan for more information on loans available to international students.

The bad news – interest rates and underwriting criteria have gone up (meaning you’ll pay more in interest, and you’ll need a co-signer with really good credit). Also direct to consumer loans are no longer available, meaning your school must certify the fact and the amount of your loan each year, so there is a lot less flexibility in the amount you can apply for and the speed with which you can get your loan.  There was abuse in direct to consumer loans, but they worked well for international students because of their flexibility and because international students have less resources in the US to fall back on.

Scholarships and other aid are still available, although some have been cut back, so you’ll need to start early to research and apply for scholarships.

So funding an education as an international student in 2010 and beyond will require even more initiative than it has in the past, but it remains quite doable. See our 2010 international student financing overview to get started on a plan.

It could be argued that social media was the “buzz word” of 2009 – sites like Twitter and Facebook really came into the mainstream and began to be embraced by both individuals and companies from all corners of the world. For international students, sites like these are a great way to connect with fellow students – for example the International Student Facebook Fan page now has nearly 1,000 fans and you can talk to each other, start discussions, ask us questions and find other students who are in the same boat as you! These social media sites can also be used to locate things like scholarships that people post, and Twitter is a great resource for getting up to the minute relevant information. Check out our posts on Twitter for International Students and Using Twitter to find Scholarships for more information.

For all international students, one of the most important aspects of traveling and studying around the world is keeping in touch with your friends and family – this can not only avoid problems with home sickness but also for your own safety. Traditionally the advice was to get a phone card so that you can make cheap calls from around the world, but as technology changes, things like netbooks are very cheap and mobile phones can now be taken around the world and as long as you use them correctly you can keep in touch wherever you are for little or no cost. If you can travel with a laptop or netbook, then check out our VOIP section on free Skype calling . If you do take your mobile phone, be careful not to get hit with high roaming charges which still exist when you leave your home country – you can get around this by changing out your sim card and our article on sim cards should help explain this.

Staying Healthy

With New Year’s resolutions fresh on our mind, staying healthy should be a priority for all international students.  Simple things like getting enough sleep can make a tremendous difference in our outlook on the day and its challenges, and help keep a healthy balance for body, mind and spirit. The prevalence of the H1N1/ Swine Flu virus has also subsided a little bit and although it may not be as widespread as it once was, you should still do all you can to avoid infection. A great post that gives some useful help and advice on staying healthy is available titled “H1N1 not as severe as first thought”

Once again have a very happy and healthy 2010!

I am a lady with MA (Sociology), BA (Soc. Scie.), P/G (Public Policy)and Diploma (Teaching).

I would be very grateful to get some information on Full/Scholarship for international Students from Africa.

Also, I would be very much pleased if you will provide me with adequate and detailed information on Institutions/Universities in USA or Canada which could offer me admission for PhD Program. If forms are provided for financial aid or funding please send me through my email address address.

Please, for any response use this email me.

with thanks

Source: The International Student Blog

Student Loan System in Need of Reform

By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

One thing that gets me really hot under the collar is that we’ve allowed so many banks, for-profit colleges, and other companies to make money from loaning students—at very high rates of interest—the tuition to attend college or graduate school. This should be an entirely government-run or nonprofit business in which no one is enriched in the process. There’s a place for making profits—ideally honest profits—in the United States. But student loans shouldn’t be one of them.

Today there are millions of students facing mountainous debts—some close to $100,000—after completing their undergrad and graduate educations. These debts govern what jobs students can take, and prevents too many community minded young people from entering public or government service because those jobs just don’t pay enough to pay off the crippling student loans. In other cases, students have been ripped off by schools that are phantom institutions, many for-profit entities that are more interested in the money they can make from student loans than in educating students.

Arne Duncan, President Obama’s Secretary of Education, writes about this issue in the . Duncan points out that the current system works to indemnify bank loans to students. If students don’t pay back their debts, the United States government covers the banks’ loss. Meantime banks charge the students high interest rates without taking on any risk.

But things have changed. The National Consumers League is part of a coalition of groups backing the inclusion of all private student loans under the jurisdiction of a new agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. This will allow these private loans to be reviewed for how well they protect student interests. Sadly, at a number of for-profit colleges, attended disproportionately by African American and Latino students, 42 percent of students took out private loans at high interest rates. Corinthian Colleges has told investors that it plans to make $130 million in loans to its students even though it expects 56-58 percent of these borrowers to default. Other for-profit colleges offer high interest open-end credit to their students. You get the picture.

On the federal government end, Education Secretary Duncan has announced that all student loans will come through the existing federal Direct Loan program. The federal government will save $87 billion annually by not backstopping bank lending to students. As Duncan points out, “We cannot in good conscience let $87 billion in subsidies go to banks when our students desperately need financial help to realize the dream of getting a college education.” We agree with Secretary Duncan: after many years, finally federal policy is focusing the attention on students, not on helping banks or companies make profits on the backs of students.

Source: NCL's Savvy Consumer Blog