cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Does having a student loan help or hurt your credit?

tag
audia4
Established Contributor

Does having a student loan help or hurt your credit?

I am a Nursing Student that has been trying to rebuild my credit for the last 7 years (due to a bad divorce-I paid my bills in full, the ex didn't and it kept reporting on my credit). At that time I cut up all of my credit cars and paid off my house and car loans.

 

I've worked really hard on getting everything off of my credit (all I have left is 1 judgement against me that will fall off in June of next year) and then there will not be anything negative on there.

 

I pulled my credit report back in April this year and my score for Experian was 780. I was so proud of all of my hard work. I signed up here today and pulled my credit again and now it reports 710?? Smiley Sad  Is it possible that my student loan going up is the problem? In April I only owed $11,500 and now it's only $15,000 so I can't imagine it making this much of a difference.

 

I only have the following on my credit:  1 OLD cc opened in 1985 and has been closed for a good 10+ years, but still reports on there (shows never late). My old mortgage account on there (paid off in 2006, shows never late), my student loan (never paid on it yet because I'm still a student-shows never late) and then back in April I opened up my first cc after many years to establish some credit again-which shows never late. It's only a $300 limit and I charge on it every month and pay it off a week or more prior to it being due. It's an unsecured cc with Orchard (which has now been sold off to Capital One).

 

So is it possible that the amount of my student loans going up has decreased my score that much??? I don't see how.

 

What is my next step? Should I apply for another cc this early (7 months after I got the other one)?

 

My bank said they would give me a small $1000 to help me establish more credit next year when the judgement against me falls off (a judgement that was done against me w/o my knowledge and I didn't find out about it for years).

 

Any help appreciated. Thanks

TU: 819 EQ: 821 EX 811


**$7500****$30,000*****$13500****$42,200****$10,000***$10,700*****$6000****$11,000*****OPEN****OPEN******$27,000*****11,000



Message 1 of 26
25 REPLIES 25
laz98
Senior Contributor

Re: Does having a student loan help or hurt your credit?


@audia4 wrote:

I pulled my credit report back in April this year and my score for Experian was 780.

     Where did you get an EX score from?  You cannot purchase a true Experian score anywhere.  Do you mean Equifax by any chance?

 

I was so proud of all of my hard work. I signed up here today and pulled my credit again and now it reports 710??

     You have 3 different scores:  TransUnion, Equifax, & Experian, & they are almost never the same.  You can get the first 2 here.  Did you buy an Equifax score?

 

Is it possible that my student loan going up is the problem? In April I only owed $11,500 and now it's only $15,000 so I can't imagine it making this much of a difference.

     Your installment balances slowly creeping up will hurt your score, yes, but definitely not 70 points.  Installment accounts are only 10% of your overall scores, so I don't think that is the problem.  I think you might be comparing 2 different scores.

 

What is my next step? Should I apply for another cc this early (7 months after I got the other one)?

     Generally, people recommend having 2-3 cards to help your score the most.  I would focus on getting my accurate scores first, & then see if I'm in a position to apply for a new card.  Hope that helps!  Smiley Happy


& Welcome to the forums!!!

Message 2 of 26
audia4
Established Contributor

Re: Does having a student loan help or hurt your credit?

Thanks for the welcome and your help.

 

When I pulled my credit back in April, I pulled all 3 of them with the once a year free credit reporting agency and purchased the scores with them at that time. Yes, those were the scores for each one of them that I bought.

 

I'm aware that I have 3 different scores. They were all 3 different. The only score that I have received from here is the Experian score that you get with your report with the 10 day free trial. I'm comparing that score to the score that I purchased for Experian 7 months ago in April.

 

Do you think I should be paying "something" on my student loans right now even though I'm not required to pay anything until I graduate (which will be May 2014)? Or is it good to have those loans on there reporting as credit? I haven't exactly figured out if having the students loans help you or hurt you?

 

So if my 710 score from here is the now "accurate" score, which cc should I try to get? I have the Orchard (with only the $300 limit), is there another one that is fairly simple to get with my score and that is unsecured? I would only be getting one to rebuild my credit and paying it off every month in full.

 

I have seen people on other boards and the internet say they usually have some luck with Chase Freedom Visa. Is this a fairly good and easy one to get with my history?

TU: 819 EQ: 821 EX 811


**$7500****$30,000*****$13500****$42,200****$10,000***$10,700*****$6000****$11,000*****OPEN****OPEN******$27,000*****11,000



Message 3 of 26
laz98
Senior Contributor

Re: Does having a student loan help or hurt your credit?


@audia4 wrote:

Thanks for the welcome and your help.

 

When I pulled my credit back in April, I pulled all 3 of them with the once a year free credit reporting agency and purchased the scores with them at that time. Yes, those were the scores for each one of them that I bought.

     The scores you get from the credit bureaus are not FICO scores (with the exception of one EQ score, but it can be difficult to know if you are buying the right one or not.  I have purchased the wrong one before myself.

 

I'm aware that I have 3 different scores. They were all 3 different. The only score that I have received from here is the Experian score that you get with your report with the 10 day free trial. I'm comparing that score to the score that I purchased for Experian 7 months ago in April.

     You can no longer get an EX (Experian) score here.  I believe you mean an EQ score, or Equifax, which is what comes with the ScoreWatch trial.  Is that the product you are referring to?

 

Do you think I should be paying "something" on my student loans right now even though I'm not required to pay anything until I graduate (which will be May 2014)? Or is it good to have those loans on there reporting as credit? I haven't exactly figured out if having the students loans help you or hurt you?

     In general, student loans help because of the length of time that they usually end up being on people's reports.  Often times they are the longest open accounts people have, & as long as they are positive, they are definitely helping you.  At some point, no one really knows the number, the amount of student loan debt you are carrying does begin to hurt you, for instance, if you are trying to buy a house.

 

So if my 710 score from here is the now "accurate" score, which cc should I try to get? I have the Orchard (with only the $300 limit), is there another one that is fairly simple to get with my score and that is unsecured? I would only be getting one to rebuild my credit and paying it off every month in full.

     I'm not good with credit card recommendations, so I'll let others chime in here.  I've heard mixed things about the Chase Freedom, as far as how hard or easy it is to get.

 

I have seen people on other boards and the internet say they usually have some luck with Chase Freedom Visa. Is this a fairly good and easy one to get with my history?


Message 4 of 26
audia4
Established Contributor

Re: Does having a student loan help or hurt your credit?

Oh my gosh, you are totally right. I wrote it down wrong. My FICO score on here says 710, which is Equifax and my Ex last time was 743. So I guess it has dropped 33 points?

 

I have been doing a lot of reading since posting this and I'm reading that you should never charge more than 30% of your cc limit. So my limit is only $300 and 30% of that would only be $90 a month in charges. I've been charging between $160 to $290 each month (and paying in full) thinking that it would help my credit scores and prove that I can charge a higher amount and still PIF. I'm now guessing this is not the case and could have lowered my score? (Which is what I have been reading, that people have lowered their scores anywhere from 10-40 points by having a bad ratio on the cc's).

 

Where do you suggest is the best place to get the scores? Only on here? So the 710 Equifax score they gave me here would be the correct one right? Would I have to purchase the TU on here as well in order for it to be the correct score?

 

Why can you no longer get a Experian score? Is this score used by creditors? I guess I didn't realize this and don't understand why?

TU: 819 EQ: 821 EX 811


**$7500****$30,000*****$13500****$42,200****$10,000***$10,700*****$6000****$11,000*****OPEN****OPEN******$27,000*****11,000



Message 5 of 26
laz98
Senior Contributor

Re: Does having a student loan help or hurt your credit?


@audia4 wrote:

Oh my gosh, you are totally right. I wrote it down wrong. My FICO score on here says 710, which is Equifax and my Ex last time was 743. So I guess it has dropped 33 points?

     You can't compare what happens with your EQ or TU score with what happens with your EX score.  They are all different, & different factors will raise or lower your score differently with each scoring model.  Just because your EQ drops 10 points, for example, doesn't necessarily mean that your other scores also dropped exactly 10 points.  Maybe they only dropped 5.  Know what I mean?  You can only compare apples to apples, not apples or oranges Smiley Happy

 

I have been doing a lot of reading since posting this and I'm reading that you should never charge more than 30% of your cc limit. So my limit is only $300 and 30% of that would only be $90 a month in charges. I've been charging between $160 to $290 each month (and paying in full) thinking that it would help my credit scores and prove that I can charge a higher amount and still PIF. I'm now guessing this is not the case and could have lowered my score? (Which is what I have been reading, that people have lowered their scores anywhere from 10-40 points by having a bad ratio on the cc's).

     You can charge whatever you like throughout the month, & paying in full is an excellent habit.  What people are recommending is that when your statements come out, that the balance being reported on them (which is usually what gets reported to the credit bureaus) is less than 30%.  The best is to have it below 10%, but 30% is not going to cause your scores to plummet hundreds of points.  The ratio you mentioned is the utilization, the percentage of your credit you are using.  Usually when people are talking about it, they are talking about what is being reported to the credit bureaus, or what utilization they are carrying right now, meaning the balances on their credit cards at that particular moment, usually because they want to apply for something (new card, car loan, etc.)

 

Where do you suggest is the best place to get the scores? Only on here? So the 710 Equifax score they gave me here would be the correct one right? Would I have to purchase the TU on here as well in order for it to be the correct score?

     I get my scores here, & there are certain credit unions that offer scores to their members that some of us belong to in order to get our scores that way.  The TU model here is a little outdated, but it is still used.  You will see many threads about people wanting to get the Walmart card, because you can get the newer model TU score for free each month.  Yes, the EQ score you get here is accurate, & I would recommend getting your TU score here so that way you know for sure you are getting a true FICO score.

 

Why can you no longer get a Experian score? Is this score used by creditors? I guess I didn't realize this and don't understand why?

     Experian decided to stop making its scores available to the general public a couple of years ago.  No one really knows specifically why, but we all guess it's because they wanted to push their own model onto consumers instead.  Yes, many creditors use your EX score; Citibank in particular uses EX a lot (at least that has been true for me).  It can often vary on geographical region, what score a creditor will use.  Don't worry, lots of people don't realize that it's next to impossible to get your EX score now, so you are definitely not alone Smiley Wink


 

 

Message 6 of 26
audia4
Established Contributor

Re: Does having a student loan help or hurt your credit?

Sorry, I'm not seeing how you are quoting what I'm saying, so I can't figure out how to quote back, so I copied.

 

audia4 wrote:

Oh my gosh, you are totally right. I wrote it down wrong. My FICO score on here says 710, which is Equifax and my Ex last time was 743. So I guess it has dropped 33 points?

     You can't compare what happens with your EQ or TU score with what happens with your EX score.  They are all different, & different factors will raise or lower your score differently with each scoring model.  Just because your EQ drops 10 points, for example, doesn't necessarily mean that your other scores also dropped exactly 10 points.  Maybe they only dropped 5.  Know what I mean?  You can only compare apples to apples, not apples or oranges :smileyhappy:

 

But like I said, I'm not compairing the Equifax to Transunion. I'm comparing my Equifax from here, which is 710 to my Equifax from April, which was 743. So it's comparing apples to apples. I just have the abbreviations mixed up. So I'm typing it out from now on. LOL

 

I have been doing a lot of reading since posting this and I'm reading that you should never charge more than 30% of your cc limit. So my limit is only $300 and 30% of that would only be $90 a month in charges. I've been charging between $160 to $290 each month (and paying in full) thinking that it would help my credit scores and prove that I can charge a higher amount and still PIF. I'm now guessing this is not the case and could have lowered my score? (Which is what I have been reading, that people have lowered their scores anywhere from 10-40 points by having a bad ratio on the cc's).

     You can charge whatever you like throughout the month, & paying in full is an excellent habit.  What people are recommending is that when your statements come out, that the balance being reported on them (which is usually what gets reported to the credit bureaus) is less than 30%.  The best is to have it below 10%, but 30% is not going to cause your scores to plummet hundreds of points.  The ratio you mentioned is the utilization, the percentage of your credit you are using.  Usually when people are talking about it, they are talking about what is being reported to the credit bureaus, or what utilization they are carrying right now, meaning the balances on their credit cards at that particular moment, usually because they want to apply for something (new card, car loan, etc.)

 

Sorry, I didn't know the correct "terminology" to use for what I was reading. Yes, I was referring to the utilization percentage. Since my balance at the time I pulled this report today is well over the 30% utilization limit I wondered if that hurt me. (Since the cc has obviously not updated my account yet this month because I PIF about 2 weeks ago for a balance that wasn't even due until this month).

 

Where do you suggest is the best place to get the scores? Only on here? So the 710 Equifax score they gave me here would be the correct one right? Would I have to purchase the TU on here as well in order for it to be the correct score?

     I get my scores here, & there are certain credit unions that offer scores to their members that some of us belong to in order to get our scores that way.  The TU model here is a little outdated, but it is still used.  You will see many threads about people wanting to get the Walmart card, because you can get the newer model TU score for free each month.  Yes, the EQ score you get here is accurate, & I would recommend getting your TU score here so that way you know for sure you are getting a true FICO score.

 

Yes, I read about the free Transunion score on there and decided to apply. I got the "you will receive something in 7-10 days" reply. So, I did some research on here and found a number to call. I do know that there is a freeze on my transunion account that I placed on there 2 years ago and other companies are not able to pull my report because of it. I read on here others that had to call to verify who they were because of it. So I called. They told me instantly that I was denied and he had no reason why but I would get something in the mail in 7-10 days. Now I'm upset that I even tried since I now have a hit on my credit after this. Smiley Sad

 

Why can you no longer get a Experian score? Is this score used by creditors? I guess I didn't realize this and don't understand why?

     Experian decided to stop making its scores available to the general public a couple of years ago.  No one really knows specifically why, but we all guess it's because they wanted to push their own model onto consumers instead.  Yes, many creditors use your EX score; Citibank in particular uses EX a lot (at least that has been true for me).  It can often vary on geographical region, what score a creditor will use.  Don't worry, lots of people don't realize that it's next to impossible to get your EX score now, so you are definitely not alone :smileywink:


 

 That just doesn't sound right that they can keep your score from you at Experian. There should be some law against that since it should be your knowledge to know how they are rating you.  Smiley Sad

TU: 819 EQ: 821 EX 811


**$7500****$30,000*****$13500****$42,200****$10,000***$10,700*****$6000****$11,000*****OPEN****OPEN******$27,000*****11,000



Message 7 of 26
laz98
Senior Contributor

Re: Does having a student loan help or hurt your credit?


@audia4 wrote:

Sorry, I'm not seeing how you are quoting what I'm saying, so I can't figure out how to quote back, so I copied.

     When you hit Reply, at the top on the right you will see a button next to Spell Check that says Quote.  Just click on that.


 But like I said, I'm not compairing the Equifax to Transunion. I'm comparing my Equifax from here, which is 710 to my Equifax from April, which was 743. So it's comparing apples to apples. I just have the abbreviations mixed up. So I'm typing it out from now on. LOL

     Okay, no problem.  I didn't know if you were mixing them up or not.

 

Sorry, I didn't know the correct "terminology" to use for what I was reading. Yes, I was referring to the utilization percentage. Since my balance at the time I pulled this report today is well over the 30% utilization limit I wondered if that hurt me. (Since the cc has obviously not updated my account yet this month because I PIF about 2 weeks ago for a balance that wasn't even due until this month).

     No problem, it takes a while to get used to everything around here!  It might hurt you temporarily, but once you get it down again, your scores will go back up.  I can't tell you by how much, of course.

 

Yes, I read about the free Transunion score on there and decided to apply. I got the "you will receive something in 7-10 days" reply. So, I did some research on here and found a number to call. I do know that there is a freeze on my transunion account that I placed on there 2 years ago and other companies are not able to pull my report because of it. I read on here others that had to call to verify who they were because of it. So I called. They told me instantly that I was denied and he had no reason why but I would get something in the mail in 7-10 days. Now I'm upset that I even tried since I now have a hit on my credit after this. Smiley Sad

     I'm a little confused here.  So you applied for a credit card somewhere, & got denied?


 That just doesn't sound right that they can keep your score from you at Experian. There should be some law against that since it should be your knowledge to know how they are rating you.  Smiley Sad


I agree with you about Experian, but unfortunately, there's not much we can do about it.  Smiley Sad

Message 8 of 26
audia4
Established Contributor

Re: Does having a student loan help or hurt your credit?


@laz98 wrote:


     When you hit Reply, at the top on the right you will see a button next to Spell Check that says Quote.  Just click on that.

 

Thanks for the info. That's weird. In any other forums I've been in you hit the quote before replying so they know which one you are quoting. I've got it now I believe.


 

No problem, it takes a while to get used to everything around here!  It might hurt you temporarily, but once you get it down again, your scores will go back up.  I can't tell you by how much, of course.

 

I'll make sure I'm not charging it up to almost the limit from now on. I don't have a need to charge anything. I was just doing it to try to rebuild my credit again. I guess my logic of thinking was to show them I can charge high amounts and pay them off in full each month with no problems. I guess it don't work that way.

 

 

 

Yes, I read about the free Transunion score on there and decided to apply. I got the "you will receive something in 7-10 days" reply. So, I did some research on here and found a number to call. I do know that there is a freeze on my transunion account that I placed on there 2 years ago and other companies are not able to pull my report because of it. I read on here others that had to call to verify who they were because of it. So I called. They told me instantly that I was denied and he had no reason why but I would get something in the mail in 7-10 days. Now I'm upset that I even tried since I now have a hit on my credit after this. Smiley Sad

     I'm a little confused here.  So you applied for a credit card somewhere, & got denied?

 

Yes, after reading several post on here about getting the cc for Walmart and after seeing some of the lower scores people had when they were approved (and the added fact that you get a free Transunion score monthly with it). So I applied and immediately got the "wait 7-10 days" notification. Then I called the number and the guy on the phone said I was denied and would be getting my letter in the mail in 7-10 days to let me know why. I was a little shocked needless to say since others have gotten instant approval with a lot less of a score. Smiley Sad



 

I guess it's a waiting game now.

TU: 819 EQ: 821 EX 811


**$7500****$30,000*****$13500****$42,200****$10,000***$10,700*****$6000****$11,000*****OPEN****OPEN******$27,000*****11,000



Message 9 of 26
laz98
Senior Contributor

Re: Does having a student loan help or hurt your credit?

Once you get the letter, maybe we can get a better idea of how to get an approval for you!  Smiley Happy

Message 10 of 26
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.