Can I get school loans in Ny state for a certificate program ?
by Author on Saturday, May 8th, 2010 | 2 Comments
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I find it hard to believe that any program at LIU is not eligible for federal aid. If this is indeed true (You’ve been told by their financial aid office) and you are set on going to this particular program, you have a couple of options. Go to the NYHESC website: http://www.hesc.org/ and check out their student loan marketplace, where you fill out an application for a private student loan and lenders tell you what terms they would give you for a loan.
In the spring, N.Y. will be starting their own student loan program- a partnership between banks and the state. It is called the NYHELPs program and the Governor has said that interest rates will 8% or below. You can try and find out when exactly this will be available. You will need a cosigner for both of these options. Double-check the federal loan program first.
Katie:
It’s interesting that your certificate program is not eligible for Federal Student Aid financing, because certificate programs of at least one year’s duration offered by an institution of higher education ARE eligible in principle, assuming that they "prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized profession".
There certainly are a number of other, additional criteria that your school must meet in order for the certificate program to be eligible – and those are important, too. For example, the program (not just the school) must be accredited, and state-authorized.
Double-check with the financial aid office at LIU to determine whether this certificate program is FSA-eligible, and if not, why not. If you were to find out, for example, that the program isn’t accredited, that might make you think twice about whether this is the right school for you – especially given that $20,000 tuition.
The bad news is – it’s going to be a real challenge to find financing for this program through private, rather than government loans. All private student loans are credit and income based loans. You can’t qualify for a loan of $20,000 unless you have the PRESENT income (not hypothetical future income) to indicate that you’ll be able to repay the loan. You’ll also need a well-established, and very positive credit history – evidence that you’re a good lending risk.
Without income and credit history, you’ll be required to provide a highly creditworthy cosigner – a co-borrower who can qualify for the loan.
Given that it IS possible to attend a one-year certificate program with Federal Student Aid (maybe just not this one), your better bet would be to look around for an ultrasound training program that does participate in FSA.
Good luck to you!