Education Loans Without Co-applicants 2024 [Complete Guide]

Let’s begin by looking at three pieces of data:

• Indian students choose the U.S. as their most preferred destination for studying abroad. 4,65,791 Indian students are studying in the U.S. in 2022.
• Canada comes second with 1,83,310 Indian students studying in the country in 2022.
• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) takes third place with 1,64,000 Indian students studying in the country in 2022.   

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However, studying in these countries can quickly poke a hole in your pocket. Here’s why:

• To study in the U.S., expect to pay up to $55,000 a year in tuition fees. Furthermore, expect to pay up to $40,000 a year in food, accommodation, and living expenses as well.
• To study in Canada, expect to pay up to CAD 56,328 a year in tuition fees. Furthermore, expect to pay up to CAD 10,000 a year in food, accommodation, and living expenses as well.
• To study in the United Arab Emirates, expect to pay up to 120,000 AED a year in tuition fees. Furthermore, expect to pay up to 8,200 AED a year in food, accommodation, and living expenses as well.   

Education loans can help you sew the hole in your pocket back. However, banks and financial institutions are often reluctant to offer student loans without a cosigner. 

However, what if you don’t have a cosigner? Won’t you be able to get an education loan without a co-applicant?

This article will offer the answers. In the next seven minutes, learn all about education loans without a co-applicant. 

By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll have a clear idea of what you can or can’t get.

This guide will discuss:

• Is it possible to get an education loan without a co-applicant?
• The difference between financial co-applicant and primary co-applicant
• Ways to get an education loan without a co-applicant

However, even after reading the article till the end and finding all the necessary information, you can still feel overwhelmed. You can still have questions. You can still be confused. 

That’s when you need more help.

That’s when you need FundRight. 

Note: The information is true at the time of writing. That’s November 2022.

Can you get an education loan without a co-applicant?

The right answer, it depends. International lenders offer education loans without a co-applicant. However, these lenders keep a list of selected universities for which they give out the loans. Thus, if you’re not going to study at these universities, you won’t be eligible for a student loan without a co-signer.

With Indian banks, the scenario is different. Here you can get an education loan without a financial co-applicant. However, you can’t get an education loan without a primary co-applicant. 

Therefore, when you hear the phrase ‘education loan without a co-applicant,’ know that here the co-applicant means a financial co-applicant, not a primary co-applicant. 

However, there are specific scenarios when this rule doesn’t apply and you can get an education loan without a co-applicant. We’ll discuss those scenarios later in this article.

What’s the difference between a financial co-applicant and a primary co-applicant? That’s what we’re going to discuss next. 

What’s the difference between a financial co-applicant and a primary co-applicant?

Financial co-applicant

A financial co-applicant is a person who is related by blood to the loan applicant. The loan applicant needs to have a financial co-applicant when they don’t have a primary co-applicant with a permanent income. 

Loan applicants can put their siblings, first cousins, maternal uncle or aunt, and paternal uncle or aunt as financial co-applicant. 

Primary co-applicant

A primary co-applicant is a person who co-signs the education loan agreement with the loan applicant. 

The co-applicant’s financial profile doesn’t affect their eligibility. 

Applicants can name their parents or any immediate family member – even when they don’t have a stable income or when they are retired pensioners – as primary co-applicants.

3 scenarios where you can get a student loan without a co-signer

Taking an education loan from a government bank

Government banks take collateral to secure education loans. Thus, the banks don’t care much about having a co-applicant or the financial profile of the co-applicant.

Furthermore, government banks offer you a payment-free moratorium period. During the moratorium period, you don’t have to pay the interest for the loan. Thus, the need for a co-applicant lowers even further. 

However, what if:

• You don’t have collateral you can pledge
• The value of the collateral is too low to get the amount of loan you need 
• You don’t have a financial co-applicant

That’s when the rest of the 3 scenarios can help you get a student loan without a co-signer.

Having work experience

If you qualify for this scenario, you can receive up to 40 lakhs of student loans without a financial co-signer and collateral. The interest rate for these loans ranges between 10.5% to 11%.

Check out the eligibility criteria below:

• The loan applicant must have a work experience of 3 years or more
• The loan applicant’s last drawn salary must be at least 35K a month
• The loan applicant must have been selected at universities that are present in the top 300 universities list worldwide that lenders keep
• The loan applicant must have chosen an MS or MBA course

Note the banks or financial institutions still need you to have a primary co-applicant for contact purposes. The banks won’t check the primary co-applicant’s financial profile.

The primary co-applicant must be of your first family such as parents, siblings, spouse, and in-laws.  

• Going for international lenders

International lenders offer student loans without a co-signer. The lenders offer student loans in USD and can cover up to 80% of the total cost of education. 

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Furthermore, these lenders charge between 9% to 10.5% interest on the loan. However, note that since the funds are offered in USD, the interest rate for an Indian student will be 14% in Indian currency.

International lenders offer student loans without a co-signer when you qualify to study at one of the universities they have tied up with. If you have been selected at a university that’s not on their list, you won’t be eligible for the student loan.

Now before you reach out to international lenders, you must decide which ones to reach. There are hundreds of them out there and you can’t rely on random blogs with half-information (or worse, misinformation).

That’s when FundRight comes to your rescue. At FundRight, you’ll receive:

• Over 30 lenders including public and private sector banks, NBFCs, and even two international lenders competing to offer you customized education loans.
• Competitive interest rates that help you save more on your budget.
• A processing time of 48 hours. Know any organisation that offers a faster processing time?

Want to know more? Drop us an email at grad@gradright.com to talk to our financial and educational advisors.

Cons of taking an education loan from international lenders

Getting student loans without a co-signer from international lenders comes with its own set of hazards.

When you get a loan from an international lender, you won’t receive income tax benefits under section 80E.

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Furthermore, the currency fluctuation with INR depreciation means you’ll end up paying way more than what you borrowed.

Frequently asked questions

However, if you don’t qualify for those ways, international lenders are the only way you’re left with.

Education loans without a co-applicant – FundRight is here to help

We have shared all the information on education loans without a co-applicant in this article. However, However, before you decide on whether to go for an education loan without a co-applicant, you need to finalize an education loan first. 

If you go for private or public banks or NBFCs, you’re looking at:

• Interest rates as high as 15%.
• A tiresome and lengthy processing time of up to 20 days.
• The need to submit collateral to the banks. 

Sounds overwhelming? Go for FundRight. At Fundright, we offer:

• More than 30 lenders including private and public sector banks, NBFCs, and even two international lenders, happy to offer you student loans without a cosigner. 
• A processing time of 48 hours. Yeah, you read it right. Do you know of any other organisation that offers a faster processing time?
• Competitive interest rates that allow you to save more on your budget.

If you want to know more, drop us an email at grad@gradright.com to strike up a conversation with our financial and education advisors.

Now that you know all about education loans without a co-applicant, we hope the knowledge will help you make the most informed decision.