Financing MBA: School credit w/o cosigners

I agree with Jock4MBA. Cornell, for example, offers a loan w/o co-signer only to cover the cost of tuition (around 95/100k). That basically means that you've got to cover all your living expenses by yourself (estimated by the school to be around $40k over two years).
Simply put, this whole process is mighty expensive for internationals who don't have US based co-signers!

The terms of a loan without co-signer is prohibitive with interest rates above standard loans. If possible, you may try to arrange loans from your home country, sth encouraged by financial aid officers.

In Eastern Europe (and many developing regions as well, I believe) USD loans start from 12% interest rate and are limited to 3-5 years and USD 8-10k. Very useful NOT

Here is an interesting overview of average debt per school
https://poetsandquants.com/2011/04/25/25 ... ba-debt/2/

Hey man,

We sit in the same boat when it comes to securing loans in home countries with less understanding educational finance. You know it, I know it but the financial aid officers don't want to hear it I dare you to tell this to financial aid officers when they fob you off with this standard useless advice.

Chicago Booth also offers full non-consigner loans to all students.

UPDATE:
a) I received a firm NO from Tepper's Finaid dept
b) inserted into the file info on Columbia and Booth

I suggest that you categorize schools also based on whether the loan covers the cost of living because for many internationals, especially those from developing countries, shelling out $40K+ in cash is nearly impossible. In some of these countries this is the equivalent of a 1BR apartment or 10+ years worth of savings. That would eliminate Haas, NYU, UCLA, Cornell, Yale. Columbia doesn't offer a loan at all. Kellogg and Tuck don't cover the full cost. Not sure whether MIT, Chicago, Wharton, and Darden cover 100% tuition+cost. Too bad that some of these schools don't disclose details on their websites and say that you'll know more if you are admitted - not really transparent and helpful. HBS, Stanford, Ross and Duke offer loans that cover all as far as I know.

Thanks for starting this discussion now, when we internationals have to decide about the programs. +1 kudos.
I am wondering by how % interest for loans with co-singer differ from loans without co-singer. Anyone aware of this ?

"you will know more if you are admitted"- IMHO sounds non-professional. What if I am admitted after I have spent At least about 1000$ (GMAT, toefl, application fee,etc) and then I am said "congs dude, but sorry we can't provide you with financing, if you have not money it is not our trouble" this is what scares me most. this is why I tend to stay away of schools declaring some blurry statements "you will know more if you are admitted".

The Tuck loan for internationals offers a 0,5% discount for those with a US co-signer and I believe a discount in the origination fee.

Posted from my mobile device

Tuck's international loan program has no origination fee. However, the maximum you can borrow as an international student is $114,000 usd. They also have an institutional loan available for students with the most demonstrated need which allows you to take a further $6000 per year.

For the class of 2013 the total estimated costs are approx $172,000. that means internationals have to find $46,000 on their own.

I was very fortunate to be awarded a scholarship that covers a portion of this cost, and I think many of the international students recieve this.

I can see how this would be daunting for many people, and I hope it doesn't put off any high quality candidates from applying to this amazing school.

Posted from my mobile device

RHB, thanks for the clarification, I made a mistake.

So, if an international student at Tuck wants to finance 100% of the $172.000, he or she will still need a co-signer to be able to borrow the remaining $46.000 through a private loan such as CitiAssist. Is that correct ?

Thanks




Posted from my mobile device

Yup, that's right. Unless they get a scholarship.

Posted from my mobile device

For Indian applicants only:
Some very niche information only for applicants from India who are relying on hefty loans and have no US cosigner. Until recently the maximum educational loans I'd heard off were for ISB Hyderabad and covered about Rs ~18-22 lakhs (<$50,000 USD), and no more.

HDFC Bank recently bought some educational loan company and is now offering loans to Indian students who wish to study abroad. One of their reps called me since I bank with them due to my job, and was explaining that they would give loans up till ~$110,000 - the catch being you have to sign property as collateral in case you can't pay and there's killer interest rate (I think he mentioned 13-15%). Hefty gamble considering the US job market, but I wanted to mention that the option now exists. This was 6 months back, perhaps they've changed values slightly since.

I'm probably going to end up relying on this so..

HDFC is trying to be Indian Salie Mae without GOI backing

In general they are ruthless with home loan buyers....so would be cautious...but this is only option as of now

That's a useful resource that you are building, Sir!

I asked the McCombs School of Business last year and here is the response I got:

"......
All applicants, internationals included, are automatically considered for recruiting scholarships at the time of application and during the admission cycle following. No special application is needed. In addition during the first semester, international students may apply for Current Student Scholarships. Scholarship application forms are available starting in April of the spring semester in the MBA Program Office. However, such scholarships are extremely limited and should not be relied upon. Therefore, international students should be prepared to meet all expenses two full calendar years from their own resources. McCombs suggests $61,000 per year for tuition and living expenses. This does not include tuition and fees for summer courses. We would recommend that you contact the International Office (phone: (512) 471-1211) for more advice on financing your graduate education.

For an international student, there are more loan options (and better loan terms) if the student has a U.S. citizen or permanent resident co-signer, than if they do not. There are a number of lenders that offer private loans for international students requiring a co-signer. We currently do not have a lender that will offer a loan program to an international student that cannot obtain a U.S. citizen co-signer, or have three years U.S. credit history in his/her own name. As an International student if you have questions about loans you may contact the in-house Financial Aid Officer at 512-471-7698, FinancialAid@mccombs.utexas.edu.

An alternative loan provides funds from a private lender (bank) of your choice. Most alternative loan lenders require loan certification from the school in order to verify your enrollment and cost of attendance amounts.


Up to the Cost of Attendance (Look for MBA Program column on page 2), minus other financial aid and resources.

Please keep in mind that the tuition and fees at McCombs are quite low, especially for a top business school. McCombs provides the best value in MBA schools by combining a consistently top-ranked program with low tuition costs! For additional financial aid and scholarship information, please visit our site at: https://mba.mccombs.utexas.edu/admissions/finaid/ If you have any more specific questions about being admitted I would recommend that you follow-up with one of our admissions officers and here is some information to get you started https://new.mccombs.utexas.edu/MBA/Full- ... ation.aspx.

Regards,

Financial Aid Office"

- Also, I think you should make a coloumn where good schools who don't offer such loans are mentioned. Will be helpful.

Can I share your excel sheet on my blog, if that's okay?

Cheers!

I updated the file with the latest info. As you see, there are both types of schools mentioned - those that offer loans and those that do not.

You can freely use the file and any info from there. My aim is to share important information between applicants and to help avoid painful mistakes when you get accepted into a school just to realize you cannot afford attending it.

I'll update the file as open Google doc so everyone will be able to alter it with his or her info on new schools.

Can anybody tell me which lenders will offer loans to people who are not US Citizens, don't have a co-signer, but do have three years US credit history? This is exactly the situation that I am in and if this is a real option then it would have been a heck of a lot easier to get the full financing for my course.

Has any body built up a list of lenders? That could be a really useful resource!