<p>-in the past? Let's say it would be less than 7 yrs ago.</p>
<p>by adversely affected , I mean can FA be reduced, or even rejected/denied (out of hand), sort of like how a bank can reject an application for a loan if credit is bad.</p>
<p>How much is FA application like a loan application?</p>
<p>One reason I ask is that I recall a friend who applied for FA for his kid and when I asked how the process was going, he said that --I assume the college - was asking about some kind of demerit on his credit record from something like 10 yrs ago. It was not bankrupcty, but a bill that was over 30 days unpaid - which he said was erroneous. this sounded insane, but apparently this little mark on his credit record held up the FA process for his kid. I don't recall authorising colleges to do credit checks.</p>
<p>here is another question:</p>
<p>when you apply for FA, do colleges do credit checks on one or both of the parents? Can parents' credit score(s) influence how much money you might be extended from the college? that is, a worse credit score might mean less money? I assume federal money would not be affected, but correct me if I am wrong this.</p>
<p>Bankruptcy can affect the parent’s ability to get Parent Plus loans (which have a check for adverse credit including recent bankruptcy and delinquent accounts over 90 days) and private loans. If the parent is denied a Plus loan, the student’s Stafford eligibility can be raised to independent student levels. My guess is that your friend was taking a private or home equity loan. Most people don’t regard any form of parent loan to be “financial aid” and there are no actual financial aid that depends on parent credit scores or history.</p>
<p>what is a Parent Plus loan? Is it a part of college financial aid - that is, it is detailed in the FA pkg? Or is it a private loan taken out by a parent with another entity, a bank, eg, for the purpose of paying off college costs ?</p>
<p>I have learned through that ‘financial worthiness’ for non need-blind schools plays a factor not only in FA, but also in admissions. I have always thought that financial worthiness is simply income and assets. But is there also another dimension to financial worthiness, and that is one’s credit score?</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of credit checks being involved, except for PLUS and private loans. </p>
<p>However, it is interesting how credit checks are being used to set insurance rates and are being considered in hiring decisions. When I went into an multi-company insurance agency to change auto insurance companies, the first thing the agent did was run a credit check on me.</p>
<p>Roderick, there are no credit checks run on parents that impact admissions decisions. Parent Plus loans are federal education loans that only parents can apply for. They may be offered by schools as part of the financial aid package, or the package may be gapped and the parent can just apply. They are direct loans, similar to Stafford loans, and the rate is 7.9%. They’re cancellable in the event of death of the parent or the student and payments can be deferred while the student is in school (although interest will accrue). You can find more info on all the various forms of financial aid at finaid.org.</p>