I am a current undergraduate student that is trying to build credit. I only have one year left of school and all of my scholarships and grants should cover my cost of tuition. However, I am offered a decent sized subsidized loan, and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to take it out. I was thinking that I could take out the loan and keep the money in a savings account until I graduate or start paying off the loan as soon as I get the money. Would this be a good idea and if so, would it be safer/better to start paying as soon as possible or pay in one lump sum?
-I already have a credit card but my credit history is very new, and I just want more ways to build my credit (since other credit cards have declined me in the past)
Thank you!
a subsidized loan is NOT a good way to build credit. In fact, it will negatively affect your credit worthiness.
Just continue to pay off your credit card each month and be patient.
You can start building a better credit history once you have a JOB.
Taking out loans to build a credit history is not a sound idea.
we had this same question for our kiddo as well a while back. We asked a professional in the field and they had the same answer as above; dont take out a school loan to build credit.
My daughter has had her student loan on her credit report for 3 years now. It shows it as ‘good standing’ but doesn’t help the score at all. Just a great big dept on there. She has a few pluses like her bank accounts, but there just isn’t a lot of activity. Now she has a credit card and that should help. She had a few credit pulls (when applying for the credit card and a car loan) that caused it to drop. It will take about 6 months for it to move high enough to matter.
go to credit union open an account, ask if they can offer you a credit card with $300 or $1000 limit. Assuming you are discipline on your budget and finance. Use it to autopay your phone bill. and pay your credit card bill on time.
And BofA has alumni credit card for lot of colleges, you can get one later if you are proud of your alma mater.