Best Personal Loans for Students | Find the Best Loan for You

College students who have taken out student loans to cover tuition might need another type of financing to help cover miscellaneous expenses – or any emergencies that might come up. Instead of maxing out their credit cards, students might consider personal loans for non-college-related costs.

Personal loans usually have lower interest rates than credit cards, and that’s not the only positive they offer. Read on to learn more.

When you shop around for the best personal loan interest rate, you can save. Compare your personal loan offers with national average trends for personal loans to know whether you’ve found a good deal.

*Rate as of October. 7, 2021

Select your desired loan amount and loan purpose, your credit score range, and your state to see estimated annual percentage rates and loan terms.

When you obtain a personal loan – whether from a bank, credit union or online lender – you usually get the money upfront and pay in monthly installments for as long as seven years. Personal loans can total as much as $100,000, but the amount allowed depends on your debt-to-income ratio and overall creditworthiness.

Personal loans can be used for a variety of reasons, ranging from home repairs to a vacation trip. A college student might use it to cover an emergency expense, like a car repair. A personal loan might be ideal because approval happens quickly and you’ll receive the money within a day or two.

Since the loan payments will need to start right away and the payment period is likely to last a few years, “be diligent about paying that off as scheduled,” says Justin Nichols, co-founder and managing principal for advisor services of Garrett Investment Advisors in Manhattan, Kansas. “Ideally, if you have to get a personal loan, next semester try to position your schedule so you can get a part-time job and aggressively pay off the personal loan ahead of schedule.”

Personal loans are not usually used to pay for direct college expenses like tuition because many lenders will not allow them to go toward postsecondary education. Most students also realize that student loans – whether federal or private – are likely to have more advantageous terms than a personal loan.

There are two primary types of personal loans – secured and unsecured. To get approved for a personal loan, you’ll need to rely on your creditworthiness to get an unsecured loan, or collateral – such as a vehicle or securities – to obtain a secured loan. Secured loans usually have a lower interest rate because the collateral decreases the risk for the lender in case you can’t pay off the loan. Personal loans typically have fixed interest rates for the life of the loan.

As a full-time student, it might be difficult to get approved for an unsecured personal loan on your own because you likely don’t have enough income or a strong credit score. Fortunately, there are loans designed for people with bad credit.

If you apply for a loan, a lender will want to know how you will pay it back. “Where is this magical money going to come from if you don’t have a job and you’re in school?” says Tiffany Aliche, founder of The Budgetnista and author of “Get Good With Money.”

When you apply for a personal loan, pay attention to the interest rate you’re offered. It could be in the single digits if you have a strong credit score, or be as high as 35%, which would likely be significantly higher than your credit card’s rate.

You might not have a lot of assets that would be valuable enough to serve as collateral on a personal loan, but a vehicle – especially if it’s fairly new – could be one.

“The bank naturally should be more comfortable because there is a tangible asset that is acting as security for that loan,” Nichols says.

But if you can’t pay back the loan, you could lose your car.

That’s why an unsecured loan is “a more desirable loan for a borrower because if you can’t pay, the assets you have aren’t at risk of being taken right away,” Aliche says.

The minimum credit score necessary to get a loan varies by lender – it can be anywhere between 550 and 720. You’ll also need proof of consistent income. Remember that the higher your credit score, the better the interest rate you’ll get. To improve your chances of getting approved on your own, you could look for ways to quickly improve your credit score.

You could also apply with a co-signer, such as a family member or friend, who could make your application more appealing to the lender. If the co-signer has a consistent income, low debt-to-income ratio and a strong credit record, it should dramatically increase your chances for approval.

You’ll need to let the prospective co-signer know that you’re “putting them in a position that if you don’t pay, they are equally as responsible,” Aliche says. Your co-signer’s credit report will also reflect this new debt and possibly affect the person’s ability to buy a home or car.

Just bringing up the idea of a loan co-signer with a friend or family member could start a conversation that leads to that person lending you the money directly, Nichols says.