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If you have bad credit and you need money to go to college, there are some steps you can take to get the funding you need.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is the first thing you need to fill out. This is more commonly called the “FAFSA”. While the application itself is long and seemingly complicated, it is not as bad as you might think and it will be worth all of your efforts.

Filling out the FAFSA indicates that you have little or no income and are in need of a low interest loan for school. The loan you will receive from the FAFSA is the Federal Stafford Loan. This is given without a credit check making your bad credit a non-issue. You must be a U.S. citizen and be able to show that you don’t have the ability to pay for college yourself. You must not have any other defaulted student loans when you apply.

Next, apply for a Perkins Loan. Perkins Loans are given to students who can demonstrate a real financial need. They are funded by the college as well as the government. Perkins Loans are given out on a first come, first served basis, so don’t waste any time in applying for one!

More often than not, the money received from these loans will not pay for everything you need so you should be prepared to apply for a private student loan. These DO require a credit check so if you have bad credit, you must have a cosigner in order to be approved.

The person you ask to cosign for your loan must have good credit. Because your credit is not good enough to get a loan, the loan you get will be based on the cosigners credit score. Don’t bother using a cosigner whose credit is marginal or worse.

When someone cosigns for you they are literally accepting responsibility for the repayment of your loan if you do not make timely payments or if you default on your student loan. They take the risk of ruining their credit if you shirk your responsibility, so don’t shirk it! Keep that person in mind and always make timely payments.