Student Loans For Daca

[Greever2483 1]

Hello everyone, 

 

I am new to posting on this forum but have been following it ever since DACA was announced.  I would like to use this post to introduce myself as well as ask a few questions.

 

I've been living in the U.S. for 26 years now, all in the state of New York, and received DACA last year.  Finally after so long I am in a position to actually move forward in life. About 6 months ago I started actively looking into going to college. There were quite a few road blocks for me to overcome in order to attend, biggest being tuition rate. After about 3 months of getting the run around I finally confirmed that I would be able to receive in state tuition and registered for summer semester. But because it took so long for me to register, I was unable to secure a student loan for the summer semester, which was another big road block. 

 

I knew from the start that financial aid was not an option.  But I believed it wouldn't be hard for me to secure a private student loan, especially since I have fair credit.   Before I even registered for school I was looking into student loans. After speaking with a few bankers from Wells Fargo, I felt confident I would be able to secure the loan with out a co-signer. In the end, I couldn't even get a loan from them even with a co-signer. They have a policy where if the applicant is an immigrant, the co-signer must be a U.S. Citizen that earns more then 12k a year.  While I have a number of family members that are citizens, I am extremely reluctant  to ask them.

 

After some searching, I found Sallie Mae and after asking a few questions I was told that they would accept my DACA info for the loan. A month later, they tell me DACA is not accepted and I would need to provide a valid I-94 for them to process the loan. I don't even have an original I-94 because when I came to this country, I-94's weren't given to children under a certain age.  I found all of this out yesterday and I start classes on Wednesday. 

 

With that explanation I would like to finally ask my question lol.  Has anyone gone through a similar situation? Or dose anyone know of any lenders that currently approve DACA applicants for student loans? 

 

Regardless of getting a loan or not I will attend college, but with out a loan I can't afford more then 1-2 classes a semester. 

 

Thank you for your time and I hope everyone has a good holiday weekend. 

[Dreamer81 0]

I have taken college classes since August of 2012 with 1 or 2 classes at  time.  I pay in state tuition ever since but what has help me is a pay in payments. monthly have been helpful for me since the whole student loan is difficult to get one. I hope you will look into the possibility of making payments plan its a little help instead of paying them in full.

[Greever2483 1]

I have taken college classes since August of 2012 with 1 or 2 classes at  time.  I pay in state tuition ever since but what has help me is a pay in payments. monthly have been helpful for me since the whole student loan is difficult to get one. I hope you will look into the possibility of making payments plan its a little help instead of paying them in full.

 

Im currently planning to do this if Im unable to get a student loan. It's just I work in construction and this field dose not really allow part time work.  I've already told my boss my intentions to go back to school and it seems like I might be out of a job soon and the only way i'll be able to afford paying out of pocket is to keep my current wage.  

 

After some digging yesterday I found that Discover gives student loans with work permits but they aren't currently doing business with Suny schools. 

[holdingon2promise 25]

I'm sorry to hear that. I came in on an I-94, 27 years ago. Currently, i'm still waiting to be approved for my daca. Anyway (not sure if i will be accepted but the great thing is my mom can file for me in two years.) You are from NYC like myself and i go to a cuny college (BMCC) which is affordable---very affordable. I work off the books and put my money towards school, with a year down I don't owe anyone one anything. Since you have your working permit just try to work and save and put it towards school.