If you want to go to college but you have no money, take heart - even if you have bad credit. You can get student loans with bad credit if you know how to go about the student loan process.

Start With FAFSA

Don't assume that you can't get a student loan because of bad credit. You may be pleasantly surprised. Go to fafsa.ed.gov, the official web site of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application. You will find out immediately if you qualify for a federal student loan. Bad credit does not automatically eliminate your eligibility for the FAFSA program. The primary advantage of a federally funded loan is that you do not have to begin repaying the loan until a period of time - usually six months - after graduation. Most grads have found employment by then and can comfortably begin to repay their loans.

Visit Your College And Apply

If you haven't already decided where to go to college, make up your mind as soon as possible. Each college has individual scholarships and loan funds that it uses to enable more students to attend school there. Again, most colleges will ask if you have completed your FAFSA, because all lending decisions are based upon the information you submit in your application. Even with bad credit, a student loan can be obtained from your college, especially if you have an impressive grade point average or some other distinguishing characteristic to separate you from the pack of other students who are applying to attend the college.

Private Loans

If you have already borrowed the limit of federally funded student loans, or if your bad credit makes student loans from FAFSA unavailable, your school can hook you up with sources of private funding. You will pay a higher interest rate for these loans, and you will have to pay them back sooner than a federally funded loan. However, you will be able to start college and begin earning your way toward those higher income brackets that are only open to college graduates.

Other Subsidies

If bad credit makes a student loan impossible, there are other, more traditional ways to pay for college. One obvious way is to work your way through college by either attending college full-time and working part-time or vice versa. Most schools offer some student jobs that can be applied directly against tuition, and these are the best jobs of all, because you can work on campus and get flexible hours that work with your class schedule.