Wondering how to get a loan for your master’s in the US without your parents having to act as guarantors or provide security?
It’s a common question if you’re coming from a country like India, where you need a guarantor for study loans over the equivalent of USD 5600.
The answer is - an education loan without collateral from an international lender.
How to get a loan to fund your MS degree in the US on your own
There are several reasons you might want - or need - to get a loan on your own. Perhaps your parents can’t help. Or perhaps you don’t want to burden your parents when the loan size is so large.
After his acceptance to UC Berkeley, Aminad began looking for loans without security or a guarantor requirement. He didn’t want to depend on anyone else for his success, and he definitely didn’t want to burden his parents by using their property as security for his education loan.
“I feel that the collateral belongs to them and that I want to stand on my own two feet".
After Nikarika got admitted to study MS in Business Analytics at Michigan State University, she asked her dad for his advice on how she should pay for her degree. She suggested Prodigy Finance, and after he did some research, his advice was to go for the education loan without security.
“Nobody asked me what I’m earning actually, or what is my repayment capacity. It’s purely based on her”.
How to get an education loan without any security or guarantor
In some countries, like India, you'll need a guarantor for loans over amounts of USD 5600 and security for loans over USD 10,500. When most loans to study abroad are USD 60 to 70K, if you don't have or don't want to depend on anyone else, an international lender like Prodigy Finance is a great alternative for an education loan without collateral. Now you can get a loan without security in India.
At Prodigy Finance, we saw the struggle international students go through trying to fund expensive courses at global universities. It wasn’t an easy problem to solve - but we found a way to provide students with an education loan without security.
Just like Nikarika and Aminad, it’ll take you just 30 minutes to apply for an international student loan from Prodigy Finance. You won’t need a guarantor or security, and within a week, you’ll have your obligation-free loan offer.
That’s how to get a loan if you’re an international student pursuing your MS degree in the US, without burdening your parents.
And, once you’ve decided to get an education loan without security or a guarantor, you want to know that you can manage it on your own. And, you probably have questions about security, margin money, and loan repayment.
We’ve got answers.
How to get an education loan without security
Though it’s not the norm everywhere, you don’t need security to take an education loan in other countries. In the US, for example, study loans don’t require any form of security. We do the same because we believe in your future.
If this surprises you, you’re not alone. Nikarika’s father was astonished. And, Sudhir Raina felt the same way.
Even though Misha’s father Sudhir could provide his flat as security, they chose instead to a loan without security from Prodigy Finance to pay for Misha’s degree.
How to get an education loan without margin money
Securing an education loan to study abroad from a country like India often requires a minimum of 15% margin money (the amount of study costs you’re responsible for). Often, your lender requires you to deposit margin money into your account before they disburse your loan.
Margin money isn’t used by all lenders. US and international lenders do not use margin money and many offer up to 100% of the school-provided Cost of Attendance, covering tuition and living expenses. For courses that offer less than 100%, you will still need to fund the remainder.
1 more reason to choose an education loan without collateral from Prodigy Finance for your MS in the US
If you’re hoping to remain in the US to gain work experience after you’ve finished studying, having a loan in USD is a smart financial decision. Repaying a loan in another country involves international transfers, currency conversions, and plenty of phone calls and admin.
As one Prodigy Finance borrower, Chandu Yerragopu, put it, “payment can reach India after 2 or 3 days, then you need to contact the bank [to make sure it was received]. But, they’ll account only on the day they got the money, so it won’t be the day you wanted to pay”.
With Prodigy Finance, you skip the hassle; you can make payments directly from your US bank account and begin repaying before you need to without penalty.
Prodigy Finance supports the best engineering colleges including Standford University, NYU Tandon Engineering, Duke Pratt, Missouri S&T, Arizona Fulton Engineering, UCLA Engineering, University of Maryland Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Texas at Dallas and 850+ different schools and universities across 18 countries.
Need a student loan?
Prodigy Finance provides collateral-free loans to international masters students. Find out what offer you can get.
Prodigy Finance Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
What next? Find out more about Prodigy Finance’s education loans or check out the list of schools we support.
For any other information about Prodigy Finance, variable interest rates on student loans or APR, or our student loan process, required documents like credit report, etc. feel free to check out or browse our site, or register for a webinar to have your questions answered by one of our team.