You don't have to use loans. What can you sell on eBay? How about Etsy? Snow shoveling weather has passed, but now there are lawns to mow and cars to wash. Whose houses can you clean? Can you deliver some pizzas or wait tables? Hustle, my friend.
$1300 for a course is about 5 weeks, full time, at minimum wage, but you can do better than that. If you can make your time worth $25/hr after expenses, you can raise that money in a week or two. That is do-able. You just have to find customers who want to pay you to solve problems for them. There are a lot of people who'd rather give you $50 to mow their lawn than to do it themselves, even though it may take less than an hour to do a good job. Used equipment can be had for cheap or even free if you ask friends and relatives to donate to your cause.
I am not just giving idle advice, saying hey, kid, get a job. I'm speaking as someone who has paid down tens of thousands of dollars in debt. If you want your credit to be worth anything, focus less on where you can borrow more money. Quit digging a deeper hole.
