Why did I get denied for student loans?

What are some good places to get student loans with no cosigner?

• Here is the situation. I need to get a $12,000 student loan so I can attend college. Normally, this would not be an issue with a cosigner, however my parents will not cosign. Without the loans I will not be able to attend. I have talked to nearly every bank around here (none of which do student loans) and have talked to several credit unions (I cannot become a member which is required of the credit union for the loan because I do not live in the right county). I have applied for Discover student loans, Wells Fargo student loans, and Sallie Mae student loans, all of which denied my application without a cosigner. It is too late to get any scholarships and I have already gotten my FAFSA loans and grants. I am 18 and make less than $10,000 a year. What else can I do? Who should I talk to?

• Answer:

  The federal Stafford and Perkins loans do not require a cosigner. Talk to the college's financial aid office, as you may be eligible for increased unsubsidized Stafford loan limits. 90% of new private student loans require cosigners. Check with your state's loan program as they might not require a cosigner. If you've already borrowed to the normal limit for Stafford loans ($5,500 for a dependent freshman) and need an additional $12,000, that's a total of $17,500, a very heavy debt load for one year. If you are in a Bachelor's degree program, you'll have about $70,000 in student loan debt by the time you graduate, a clearly excessive amount of debt. You'll graduate with more debt than 90% of your peers. You may wish to enroll at a less expensive college, such as an in-state public college, and economize on college costs in other ways (e.g., live at home, buy used textbooks and sell the textbooks back to the bookstore at the end of the semester, minimize living expenses, etc.).