Now Is The Time – Apply for Student Loans

The new school year is almost here and while you may know where you are planning to study abroad – and perhaps even know what classes you’ll be taking – you may soon realize that you still have to get your finances in order. After all, the amount of financial aid available to international students can be quite limited. If you have finalized your budget for school and found that you still need help covering your expenses, you can apply for student loans for your overseas adventure.

Now’s the Time

July and August are the peak months when most international students apply for their loans. While loans can be applied to year round, this allows sufficient time to process all the necessary paperwork, get approved, transfer the money from your lender to your school, and for you to receive the funds from your university or college.

Understanding the Loan Process

To apply for international student loans, you can simply compare lenders and find the one that works best to suit your needs. Most non-US citizens will need to have a US cosigner who has been in the US for the past two years with good credit. The cosigner can only be a US citizen or US permanent resident. US citizens applying for loans are not required to have a cosigner, however this can reduce the interest rate and improve the likelihood of approval. Once you have your cosigner:

1. You and your cosigner can complete the online application
2. Depending on your lender you can get instant approval immediately (some lenders take about 48 hours)
3. Give yourself 6-8 weeks to process your loan information
4. Your lender will then disburse the funds directly to your university
5. Your university will then apply the funds to your costs and refund you the excess amount

Apply for International Student Loans

To get started, you can use our comparison tool to see what options are available at your school. You will be able to apply for the total cost of your education minus any financial aid you receive. Remember, your school will need to certify the amount of money you take out, and because of this the lender must work with the school you’ll be attending. Our loan comparison tool takes all of this into consideration and only shows those lenders that work with your school so that it makes it easy for you to apply for student loans.

>> Find and apply for student loans now

Posted in International Student Loans