The Earnest Blog > Paying for College, Private Student Loans
How to Get the Best Student Loans Without a Cosigner
)
This blog contains links to external pages and resources not managed by Earnest.
TL;DR
Federal student loans generally don't require a cosigner or credit check. If federal loans don't cover your full cost of attendance, you may be able to qualify for private student loans on your own. However, you'll need a solid credit history.
If you don’t have a cosigner, focus on building credit early: get a credit card, make on-time payments, and use tools like Experian Boost.
If you can't qualify solo right now, consider borrowing with a cosigner and applying for cosigner release or refinancing later.
Table of Contents
Few college students have the robust credit history needed to qualify for student loans on their own—which is why more than 3 in 4 Earnest customers have a cosigner. But don’t let that high percentage throw you off. It’s still possible to get student loans without a cosigner—if you know where to look. Here’s what to know.
The best student loans that don’t require a cosigner
The best student loan options that don’t require a cosigner are usually offered by the federal government. Federal loans offer a six-month grace period—which means you have six months after your graduation date before you have to start paying the loan. And unlike private loans, federal loans are eligible for loan forgiveness in certain situations.
The federal government offers several Direct Loan options for U.S. citizens and permanent residents. (Note that international students and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients don’t qualify for federal loans.) These loan options are:
Direct Subsidized Loans: These are available to undergraduate students and tend to have the lowest federal interest rates and most generous borrower protections.
Direct Unsubsidized Loans: These are available to both undergraduate and graduate students and tend to have intermediate interest rates.
Direct PLUS Loans: These are available to graduate and professional students, and parents of dependent borrowers. They require a credit check and tend to have higher interest rates than other federal Direct Loans. Grad PLUS loans are no longer available for new graduate borrowers, and Parent PLUS loans have new borrowing limits starting July 1, 2026.
Direct Consolidation Loans: A federal consolidation loan allows borrowers to combine all their existing federal loans into one new loan to simplify their payments.
Here’s what you need to know about these different federal loan types.
Direct Subsidized Loans
Direct Subsidized Loans are available to undergraduate students who demonstrate financial need. While you are in school and during your grace period, the U.S. Department of Education pays your interest on these loans, which can save you hundreds of dollars right off the bat. Students with subsidized loans also get access to federal repayment plans after graduating, including the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) for borrowers after July 1, 2026.
Your school will use your FAFSA to determine the amount you can borrow in subsidized loans. You’ll also need to be enrolled at least half-time at an accredited college or university to qualify. Keep in mind that Direct Subsidized Loans come with strict borrowing limits, so you likely won’t be able to borrow all the money you need via subsidized loans. You’ll likely need to rely on unsubsidized loans to fill in the gaps.
Direct Unsubsidized Loans
Unlike Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans are available to both graduate and undergraduate students. You do not need to demonstrate financial need to apply for a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. Your school will determine how much you can borrow based on the cost of attendance, factoring in any other financial aid you receive.
As with Direct Subsidized Loans, you’ll need to be enrolled at least half-time to qualify, and you’ll have to adhere to federal loan limits. There are new federal limits starting July 1, 2026, including a $100,000 cap for graduate students and $200,000 cap for professional students.
Direct PLUS Loans
As of July 1, 2026, the rules for Direct PLUS have changed. Direct PLUS Loans are split between Grad PLUS loans and Parent PLUS loans:
Grad PLUS Loans
Grad PLUS loans are for graduate or professional students attending school at least half-time. They will no longer be available for new borrowers as of July 1, 2026. However, if you took out a Grad PLUS loan before this date, you are grandfathered in and can continue borrowing them for up to three years to finish your program. Student borrowers do not need to make payments while enrolled in school at least half-time.
Parent PLUS Loans
These are available for parents of dependent undergraduates, and are capped at $20,000 per year per student, with a $65,000 lifetime limit as of July 1, 2026. Unlike Grad PLUS loans, Parent PLUS loans require repayment as soon as the loan is fully disbursed. While deferment or forbearance is an option to temporarily delay payments, any interest that accumulates will be added to the loan principal, making the loan much more costly in the long run.
Direct PLUS Loans require you to prove your creditworthiness as a part of the application. Borrowers with poor credit history might need an endorser to qualify. That said, the U.S. Department of Education does make exceptions.
Direct Consolidation Loans
If you have multiple federal loans from multiple student loan servicers, you can roll them into a Direct Consolidation Loan. This type of federal loan comes with a fixed interest rate based on a weighted average of all your existing loan interest rates.
It’s important to note that you generally cannot get a lower interest rate with a Direct Consolidation Loan. Unlike refinancing through a private lender—which gives you the opportunity to choose between fixed and variable Annual Percentage Rate “APR” options—Direct Consolidation Loan interest rates are based on the weighted average of your current loan rates, not market rates.
How to borrow federal student loans without a cosigner
Here’s how to take advantage of cosigner-free federal student loan products.
Complete your FAFSA
The first step for both graduate and undergraduate students is to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA. Students need to file a new FAFSA each school year, to reflect any financial changes. Returning students will instead complete a FAFSA renewal, which will save you some time during the application process. Deadlines for both will depend on the state and college you plan to attend.
Filling out a FAFSA form doesn’t mean you’ll be required to borrow federal student loans or even accept any financial aid offered to you, but it is the main way to receive financial assistance to pay for college aside from school-based merit scholarships. Even if you don’t think you will qualify for financial aid, you should still file a FAFSA anyway to be sure.
Review your FAFSA Submission Summary
Once your FAFSA is complete, the Department of Education will send your FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS). This is a summary of everything you’ve indicated on your FAFSA and will include an estimate of your Student Aid Index (SAI)—an estimate of how much your college will expect you to contribute to your tuition, based on factors like family income. This number impacts your eligibility for gift aid, like need-based scholarships, that you won’t have to pay back.
If you notice any incorrect information on your FSS, report it as soon as you can so you can make sure your SAI is as accurate as possible. Your FSS will also include a summary of the loans you can expect will be available to you from the federal government.
Determine the gaps between your aid and your ability to pay
After filling out the FAFSA, you’ll begin receiving financial aid offer letters from the schools you’ve applied to. Some universities are able to cover most or even all of the full cost of attendance for qualifying students whose families cannot afford to pay for college expenses out of pocket. Before you take out loans, consider all your options: are you able to make up the difference between gift aid and the cost of attendance with income from an on-campus job, or discounted room and board through resident assistant programs?
You can also try simply asking your university to offer you more aid. It may seem too good to be true, but it happens—writing a letter to your financial aid office to explain your circumstances and ask for more help may yield you an extra few thousand dollars in grant money or discounted course credit fees.
Accept loans from the federal government
Once your university sends you information about your individual financial aid package, you can choose to either accept or decline the loans offered to you. If you accept, you’ll have to partake in an entrance counseling program and sign the paperwork.
How to borrow private student loans without a cosigner
Federal loans don’t always provide the funding students need to cover all the costs of education. When that happens, private loans can help take you the rest of the way. The only catch: to qualify for private loans on your own, you’ll need to be able to pass a credit check. If you don’t already have a long credit history or a good credit score, you may have to put in some work to build it up.
Here are some steps you should take when applying to a private loan without a cosigner.
Check your credit report
You may want to review your credit report before you start applying for loans. You can request a free credit report weekly from each of the three major reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. Visit annualcreditreport.com for your reports, and use free services through your bank, if available, to receive regular information about your score. Inspect your report regularly for common errors that could impact your score.
Work to improve your credit score
Most students won’t have a credit score strong enough to take out a private student loan without a cosigner. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to build one. Here are some strategies that can help improve your credit score to boost your odds of getting a student loan without a cosigner.
Get a job
With a reliable income, you can make on-time payments which can help improve your credit score and make you look more attractive to lenders. It will also enable you to make payments on your loans while you’re still in school—which could help build your credit history before graduation and save you significant money in interest charges over the life of your loan.
Get a new credit card
Making on-time credit card payments may help build your credit history. Look for a card with no annual payment and cash back benefits. Use the card like you would a debit card—never spend more than you can afford to pay off in full at the end of each month, and always make sure to pay on time or early.
Set up direct debit payments
Credit cards aren’t the only things that impact your credit score. Paying other bills on time, like auto loans, can also have a positive impact on your score. Make sure you never miss a payment so you don’t end up having a bill sent to collections, which can damage your score quickly.
Sign up for free score monitoring from credit agencies
You may be able to get a fairly instant credit score bump by signing up for a service like Experian Boost. This service connects recurring bills—including subscription services like Spotify or Netflix—to your account. Other services let you take advantage of on-time rent payments to boost your score. Showing that you make automatic, timely payments may give you a few extra points.
Research private loan lenders
Compare private student loan lenders and carefully read their eligibility criteria. Look for a lender that openly states they’ll allow students to borrow loans independently without a cosigner. Earnest allows students to apply without a cosigner. In fact, 1 in 4 students apply for an Earnest Private Student Loan without a cosigner. Some lenders also offer rate discounts to students with high GPAs or in certain majors. Others, like Earnest, offer a Loyalty discount1 for returning customers.
Make sure you fully understand the loan terms and repayment options for each lender you consider. While the federal government offers many borrower protections—like forbearance, deferment, and income-based repayment —private lenders may offer different benefits.
Also make sure you fully understand your repayment terms. If your interest rate is higher without a cosigner, you may need to apply for a longer loan term to make your loan payments more affordable. This, however, will likely mean spending significantly more over the life of the loan as interest will accrue.
You can use Earnest’s student loan repayment calculator to understand how your loan term, interest rate, and monthly payment will impact your total loan cost and personal finances.
Consider playing the long game
If you can’t find a good deal on a non-cosigned loan, consider taking out a cosigned student loan now and apply for a cosigner release later. At Earnest, your loan will be automatically reviewed for release and you’ll be notified, or you can apply for it after meeting certain criteria2.
Alternatively, you can also refinance3 to remove your cosigner after you graduate. If you work to improve your credit score while you’re in school, refinancing could also help you access lower interest rates4.
Drawbacks of borrowing private student loans without a cosigner
Cosigners help share the responsibility of the student loan debt taken on and add a layer of safety for the lender. So, borrowers typically are subject to higher interest rates if they try to go it alone. Here are some of the disadvantages of non-cosigned loans to consider.
You may have a harder time finding a lender. Some lenders may not allow undergraduate students to borrow loans without a cosigner, regardless of their credit score. Make sure you find a lender who clearly states they allow undergraduates to take out loans independently.
You may have higher interest rates. Students borrowing on their own might have to accept a higher interest rate from private lenders than they would with a cosigner, meaning higher monthly payments in the future.
You may feel some added pressure. Because a cosigner is also responsible for the loan, their financial standing is tied to your repayment. For some borrowers, this shared responsibility can provide an added layer of accountability compared to loans without a cosigner.
Alternatives to a student loan without a cosigner
Student loans are just one piece of the puzzle. Consider these alternative funding strategies:
Applying for scholarships or grants
Contacting your school about work-study programs or grants
Working full- or part-time during summers or weekends
Taking general education courses at a community college and transferring later to a four-year university
Dropping your course load so your expenses are lower (Keep in mind, this may prolong your enrollment and result in a higher overall cost, even if it allows you to afford classes in the short-term.)
Living off-campus or with family to reduce your living costs
Does Earnest offer private student loans without a cosigner?
Yes, Earnest offers cosigner-free private student loans. However, you’ll have to meet the minimum credit score, minimum income, and other eligibility requirements. And even if you have a good job, you may find that you have a higher interest rate than you would with a cosigned loan. Often, you can get the most savings by applying with a cosigner now and then refinancing the loan later.
Find out how much you could save with Earnest
If your federal loan amount doesn’t cover your whole cost of attendance, private loans can help you make up the difference. Fortunately, many private lenders offer loans to students with or without a cosigner.
Earnest is one of those lenders. We let borrowers choose between fixed and variable rates, and we never charge origination fees or prepayment penalties5. You can also choose how you’d like to structure your payments6 in a way that fits your budget. To see how much you could save, check your eligibility online today. It takes about two minutes, it’s free, and it won’t affect your credit score.
About the Author
Corey Buhay
Corey Buhay is a writer and editor based in Boulder, Colorado. She’s passionate about literature, the outdoors, and doing her taxes by hand. She has been writing about student loans and personal finance for Earnest since 2019. You’ll find her work in Outside Magazine, Backpacker Magazine, Smithsonian, and The Denver Post.
Disclaimer
This blog post provides personal finance educational information, and it is not intended to provide legal, financial, or tax advice. It is accurate as of its publishing date.
Earnest Private Student Loans are subject to credit approval.
Before applying for private student loans, it’s best to maximize your other sources of financial aid first. It’s recommended to use a 3-step approach to assembling the funds you need: 1) Look for funds you don’t have to pay back, like scholarships, grants, and work-study opportunities. 2) Next, fill out a FAFSA® form to apply for federal student loans options. 3) Finally, consider a private student loan to cover any difference between your total cost of attendance and the amount not covered in steps 1 and 2. For more information, visit the Department of Education website at studentaid.gov.
1 To be eligible for the Loyalty Discount, applicants must have previously obtained an Earnest Private Student Loan and apply using the same email address associated with that loan. Only one Loyalty Discount may be applied per eligible Earnest Private Student Loan. Not all applicants may qualify. This offer cannot be combined with Earnest’s Rate Match program. Earnest may modify or discontinue this offer at any time and without notice, however, once a Loyalty Discount is earned, it will not be taken away.
2 To qualify for automatic cosigner release, the outstanding principal balance of your loan must be paid down to 50% or less of the original principal balance. The primary borrower must have made 36 months of required payments after the end of the Interim Period. The primary borrower must meet our eligibility and minimum credit requirements. Additional terms and conditions may apply.
To request cosigner release, the primary borrower must have made 12 consecutive, monthly on-time principal and interest payments (or an amount equal thereto) immediately preceding the cosigner release application. The primary borrower must satisfy certain eligibility and credit criteria at the time of application. Additional terms and conditions may apply.
3 Please note that you may lose benefits associated with your underlying federal loans, such as federal Income-driven Repayment Plans (an example of which is the SAVE plan), Economic Hardship Deferment, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or other deferment and forbearance options, if you refinance into a private loan. If you file for bankruptcy, you may still be required to pay back this loan.
4 Choosing to refinance to a longer term may lower your monthly payment, but increase the amount of interest you may pay. Choosing to refinance to a shorter term may increase your monthly payment, but lower the amount of interest you may pay. Review your loan documentation for the total cost of your refinanced loan.
5 Earnest does not charge fees for origination, late payments, returned check, or prepayments. Florida Stamp Tax: For Florida residents, Florida documentary stamp tax is required by law, calculated as $0.35 for each $100 (or portion thereof) of the principal loan amount, the amount of which is provided in the Final Disclosure. Lender will add the stamp tax to the principal loan amount. The full amount will be paid directly to the Florida Department of Revenue. Certificate of Registration No. 78-8016373916-1.
6 Repayment terms and repayment options available vary based on loan type.