Is anyone else having trouble getting non school certified private loans?

[seelee]

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I am married with children, and I was told from the get go that there would be no shortage of people willing to lend money. I was given the standard advice to not borrow excessively, but that if I needed, the money would be available in the form of private loans.

Now that I am about to start medical school, I have discovered that I can only get private loans up to the cost of attendance. The COA for my school is about 35k, which would be more than enough if I were a single student, but for a family it is short, and this is not including money for extras, incidentals, and emergencies.

The solution would be to take out private student loans that are not school certified. Thus allowing me to take out as much as is necessary. The problem is that it seems as if all the banks are getting out of that business (Thank you Washington). So now I have to find out how to stretch 19k to feed, clothe and house a family of 5.

Is anyone else having this problem? Are there some lenders that are offering these types of loans?

 

[yadayadadude]

Have you tried getting your school to increase your COA? That might be your best and most realistic option at this point. I haven't needed an above-the-COA loan myself, but I've been reading these boards for years, and my sense is that these loans essentially dried up last year. You're right that in previous years, it was relatively uncomplicated to get them, but now, not so much. Beyond having your school increase the COA, I don't have many ideas. Perhaps your partner can find a way to earn more income? Or maybe someone in your family can help?

 

[akpete]

Non cert loans are hard to come by d/t legislation in the past year as well as the current economy. i was able to get one in august from chase, so you might want to check them.

depending on your school, raising COA can be difficult. some schools do it, some won't. for example, my school will raise COA for child-care costs, up to $1000 for a computer (one time only, with proof of purchase), or sometimes for major car repairs (not car loans however), and that is all. they will NOT raise it for anything else. so this is very school dependent.

good luck!

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

another option is to raid/empty the 401K if you have any $$ there, there is a penalty + federal taxes due, but $$ can be withdrawn as a "hardship withdrawal". Worst case scenario might be to request a deferral for a year to earn and save more $$; having been in a situation with kids + very low income, I can advise that this adds a lot of stress; from these boards, it seems that school will be stressful enough without adding any further family/financial stress.

Also another person started a post on gov't programs -- may sound silly, but if spouse is not working your household income would probably be low enough to qualify for these, possibly some other gov't programs. You'll more than pay this amount back to the gov't through higher taxes later!

good luck and pls post if you find any loan or other programs that work out!