Defaulted student loans years past, Will I still qualify?

Published

Hello All,

I was hoping to get some info from the all-knowing folk in this thread about student loans. Years ago, when I was young, dumb and irresponsible I defaulted on a bunch of my student loans... They are currently all paid off as of about three years ago, but I was wondering if it nixed me for any future loans.

I'm currently struggling paying my way through an LVN program, and I want to go on to get my bachelors asap at Indiana State University, which would start (if all goes as planned) in Fall of 2010. When I applied for aid at my LVN school with Sallie Mae, I was denied because of my loan history. And there's no way I could make the tuition payments at a university while still paying off LVN school from a personal loan.

Does anyone have any advice on this? All I've read is "DON'T DEFAULT" not what to do once its happened. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in med surg home care PEDS.

I believe you should be ok, you paid off the loans so are no longer in default, go for it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Medical Surgical/Addiction/Mental Health.

Credit checks are not done for Stafford Loans. Also one of the requirements for the Stafford Loan is that you cannot be currently in default of a government backed student loan. Since they are paid off, you’re good to go!

Good luck to you!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Although they may not do credit checks, the school itself may check your loan history. This doesn't disqualify you from getting a student loan, however. The school may ask (as mine did) for you to explain what happened and what you will do in the future to prevent it from happening again. In my case, I became a military spouse and we started bopping all over the country and overseas. My mail didn't follow me and I did a very poor job of keeping the lender informed of my address. Once I remembered (duh) that I had a student loan out there, I paid it off. I've been able to get new student loans. So long as you've taken care of it and aren't currently in default, you should be approved, even in this tough economy.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thank you guys, that's very helpful knowing that someone else has done it too. By the sounds of it, I should be able to get something, and I did call and talk to FSA people who said the same thing, as long as its not currently in default, I should be good. Thanks folks!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

This one will definitely show my age! I filed bankruptcy because of a very expensive divorce/custody battle. This was in the time where the law was changing to student loans being non-dischargeable in BK. Because my repayment period began before the change in law, the remainder of my student loans were discharged.

I was definitely insecure about my ability to get student loans because I didn't ever pay the balance (which is what BK is all about). Well, surprise! I had NO trouble at all! You paid yours back so you should do just fine!

BTW, the schools should not be doing credit checks for stafford loans. What the school is supposed to check is the federal database of defaulted student loans. If you are on there, they may ask what happened. Believe it or not, I wasn't even on the database.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thanks for the clarification re: "database." That what I meant when I referred to student loan history. My school checked the database and found a previously defaulted loan that I had paid. They just needed a written explanation of what happened and what I would do to prevent that from happening in the future. Unfortunately, they ask for the same thing every year so I've learned to save my narrative and just change the wording a little. Seems silly once you've gone through the explanation AND when the loan has been paid in full, but I'll jump through the hoops if I have to.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion