The cost of higher education is ridiculous. Each year schools raise the costs of going to school while simultaneously giving away less and less money in the form of tuition aid. Consequently, most students have to rely on government loans to pay for the cost of going to school. But it has gotten to the point to where even that is not enough.
What is a student to do?
Option 1: Bum mom and dad for money. If your parents are well off, this is a viable option. Unfortunately, most Baby Boomers don’t have enough for their own retirement, let alone to help their children through school. So many students might come up empty handed on this one.
The other drawback of asking your parents for money is by accepting it, a student also accepts their parents right to meddle in their life. It’s like how the federal and state governments work. The federal government tells states “Sure! We’ll give you money, but you have to do what we say.” Parents will exercise this same power on you if you take their money. If you want to remain sovereign, don’t take money from them.
Option 2: A private loan from a bank. If a student wants to avoid their parents meddling in their lives, their best option is to get a loan from a bank. A bank doesn’t care if you stay out on weeknights or that you play video games too much. They just care that you pay them back on time.
The problem with getting a loan from most banks require a co-signer to take out a loan. For some students this may be difficult to acquire. Their first option is their parents. But I’ve met plenty of students whose parents for some reason or another didn’t have enough assets to feel comfortable co-signing on a loan. There’s a classmate of mine in law school who has this exact predicament. He needed some extra money, but his parents couldn’t co-sign on a loan. They were just hit with some heavy medical expenses and were looking to file for bankruptcy. This poor guy needed the money or he was getting kicked out of law school.
Additionally, if your parents co-sign, you give them permission to meddle and we don’t want meddling.
Option 3: P2P Lending. Most Peer-to-peer lending sites, like Prosper, can be a student’s best friend. Unlike Option 1, Prosper lenders won’t meddle in a student’s life. If you pay them back, they’re happy. Unlike Option 2, Prosper doesn’t require a co-signer. This can be helpful for students who can’t get a co-signer. It also keeps busybody parents out of your life.
While I don’t suggest peer-to-peer to fund your entire education (you can’t get the delayed payments like traditional student loans), peer-to-peer loans are perfect for students to pay for books or other unexpected costs during school.
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Brett McKay is the author of The Frugal Law Student, a personal finance from the view point of a law student. The Frugal Law Student was recently named the best law student blog by the ABA Journal. When he’s not blogging or studying law, Brett enjoys sipping yerba mate while playing Wii Sports.
