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When you’re thinking about earning more money in the quickest way possible, you might consider targeting a certificate program. Certificate programs have a major added benefit in that once you have your credentials in hand, they can help you boost your financial situation, sometimes significantly.

Graduates of all levels can take advantage of certificate programs, whether you’re a high school graduate or whether you have completed graduate school. (You may have come across information about paying for graduate certificates in your graduate school program.)

Keep reading to learn the definition of certificate programs, whether you’re eligible for student loans with a certificate program, funding options for certificate programs, the pros and cons of taking out a student loan for certificate programs, and more.

What Are Certificate Programs?

Certificate programs can help you specialize in a specific trade or update your professional skills. These programs teach practical skills and training related to a specific career field — you don’t take general courses toward a degree.

Why might you want to tap into a certificate program? In addition to increasing your salary potential, you may want to get updated career training or learn about technological advancements or updates in your field.

Students who have a high school diploma or general educational development (GED) can use undergraduate certificate programs to go straight into the workforce with an entry-level position within a specific field.

Students who have already earned bachelor’s or graduate degrees may be interested in enrolling in certificate programs related to their field and level. Certificates could also give those who have already earned a bachelor’s degree an option to advance their career while avoiding graduate school altogether. (However, it’s important to distinguish the difference between a certification and a certificate. A certification usually means a stepping-stone credential that you must have for certain career paths. This article primarily discusses certificate programs, but some careers may require a certificate, even after getting a bachelor’s or graduate degree.)

Recommended: Is a Post-Grad Certificate Program Worth It?

Cost of Certificate Programs

The earning potential relative to the low cost of a certificate program can pay off. For example, consider that in the 2023-2024 academic year, students at private nonprofit four-year institutions paid $41,540 on average for tuition and fees.

Students can spend far less on a certificate program — around $5,000 per program (or more or less, depending on the type of program you choose to complete). The variations in cost depend on the college, program, and credit requirements. For example, an online program at a community college will most likely cost less than through an in-person state or private college certificate program.

Let’s take a look at a few types of certificate programs and potential earnings:

•   Surgical technologists: Earn a median income of $60,370 per year as of 2023 and will see 5% job growth through 2032, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

•   Construction and building inspectors: Earn a median income of $67,700 per year as of 2023, according to the BLS, though it is anticipated the industry will see a 2% decline through 2032.

•   Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters: Earn a median income of $61,550 per year as of 2023, according to the BLS. This job is expected to experience a 2% increase in growth through 2032.

•   Court reporters: Earn a $63,940 median income per year as of 2023, according to the BLS. The industry will see a 3% increase in job growth through 2032.

•   Sheet metal workers: Earn a $58,780 median income per year as of 2023, according to the BLS. The industry is expected to see no increase in job growth through the year 2032.

Are Certificate Programs Eligible for Student Loans?

Yes, you can get a student loan to help you pay for a qualifying certificate program. As long as you attend an eligible school, you may qualify for a federal or private student loan to pay for a certificate program.

However, certain certificate programs may not qualify for federal student aid, depending on the nature of the certificate program. For example, if you need to take a class to boost your credentials as a criminalist in the DNA section of your state’s crime lab, you may not be able to borrow student loans to cover that class. In some cases, your employer may cover the fees for your course.

We’ll dive into the exact funding options for certificate programs below.

Funding Options for Certificate Programs

Before embarking on a certificate program, you need to figure out how you’re going to pay for it. Talk to the financial aid office at the college, university, or career school you plan to attend. Options for paying for certificate programs include:

Private Student Loans

Can you get student loans for certificate programs, or more specifically, private student loans for certificate programs? Answer: Yes!

A private student loan refers to money you borrow for educational expenses and pay back over time, with interest. You can get a private student loan to cover the cost of a certificate program. Private student loans can come from a bank, credit union, or another financial institution.

Interest rates are usually slightly higher for private student loans compared to federal student loans. Federal loans also come with borrower protections and forgiveness options. In general, it’s best to exhaust your federal student loan options prior to tapping into private student loans, if you’re eligible. The amount you can borrow depends on the cost of your degree and personal financial factors like your credit score and income.

Check out the private student loan guide for more information about student loans.

Federal Grants

You may qualify for federal grants to cover the costs of a certificate program. Federal grants are typically free money, assuming you meet the obligations. 

In order to qualify for a federal grant, you must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®). The FAFSA will also verify whether your certificate program qualifies for federal student aid under the U.S. Department of Education.

You may qualify for a Pell Grant , the largest program under the Department of Education. Pell Grants are awarded to students with financial need and no prior degree. You may also be able to tap into Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG).

Recommended: FAFSA Grants & Other Types of Financial Aid

Federal Student Loans

Just like federal grants, you must file the FAFSA in order to qualify for federal student loans. The difference between federal grants and federal student loans is that you must repay the money you borrow for loans. You must also meet some basic eligibility criteria to qualify for federal student loans.

Undergraduate certificate students who show evidence of financial need may qualify for a Direct Subsidized Loan. Undergraduate, graduate, and professional students can qualify for a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, but eligibility is non-need-based. It’s important to discuss both of these options as well as Direct PLUS Loans for graduate or professional students with financial aid offices to determine whether you can get any one of these loans to cover the costs of your certificate program.

You must go through entrance counseling to make sure you understand your loan repayment obligations to get a federal graduate student loan or undergraduate loan, as well as sign a Master Promissory Note. The Master Promissory Note states that you agree to the terms of the loan.

Recommended: Types of Federal Student Loans

Personal Loans

It may also be possible to borrow money from a bank, credit union, or online lender in the form of a personal loan. You’ll pay back a personal loan in fixed monthly payments or installments, usually over the course of two to seven years.

Just like a student loan, a personal loan is an unsecured debt. This means that it isn’t backed by collateral. If you stop making payments, none of your assets will be seized by the lender.

Interest rates may be higher for personal loans compared to private student loans and federal student loans, however. Do your homework before selecting one option over the other.

Employer Funds

If you’re currently employed and a certification relates to your current job description, your employer may pay for a portion or all of the cost of your certificate program. Companies like Starbucks, Google, and Target all have tuition assistance programs. Many companies will offer tuition assistance for college courses and some may even cover professional certifications.

Explore your options with your human resources office or ask your supervisor for more information.

Recommended: How to Pay for a Grad Certificate Program

Pros and Cons of Taking Out Loans for Certificate Programs

What are the pros and cons of taking out loans for certificate programs? Let’s walk through a few.

Pros of Taking Out Loans for Certificate Programs

•   Offers career change opportunities: You may want to branch out or change your career completely, and getting a loan for a certificate program may allow you to do so.

•   Costs less than a traditional degree: A certification usually costs less than pursuing a four-year or even a two-year degree. You may quickly pay off a loan, particularly because it may take you only a few months to attain a certificate.

Cons of Taking Out Loans for Certificate Programs

•   You owe money with interest: The obvious downside to taking out a loan is that you’ll owe money at the end of your program — with interest. Because a certificate program can generally be completed in a relatively short time frame, though, you may be able to repay your loan (and minimize the interest rate impact) in a short period of time.

•   Choosing the right option can be complicated: You may feel as if you’re in a maze with so many different options at your disposal. It’s a good idea to reach out to a financial aid professional at the school you’ve chosen to go over all your financing options. They can also guide you through the scholarships and grant opportunities that you can obtain.

Explore Private Student Loans With SoFi

It’s almost impossible to ignore the allure of a quick certification that can result in a lifetime of job satisfaction. Options for paying for certification include cash savings, grants, scholarships, federal student loans, and private student loans.

If you’ve exhausted all federal student aid options, no-fee private student loans from SoFi can help you pay for school. The online application process is easy, and you can see rates and terms in just minutes. Repayment plans are flexible, so you can find an option that works for your financial plan and budget.

FAQ

Can federal student loans be used for certificate programs?

Yes, in certain cases, you can get federal student loans to cover the cost of certificate programs. However, your school and program must qualify under the Department of Education rules. Talk to the financial aid office at your college or career center for more information about your eligibility for federal student loans.

Can grants and scholarships be used for certificate programs?

Yes, you can obtain grants and scholarships to cover the cost of certificate programs. Talk to the financial aid office at your college or career center for more information. Your school may offer specific scholarships, but don’t forget to check into professional organizations or local chapters for the certificate program of which you plan to enroll.

Do some companies pay for employee certifications?

Yes, many employers pay for employee certifications to help boost employee retention and put employees at the top of their field. These may differ from certificate programs, however, so make sure you understand how your career-based certification may differ from a certificate. Ask your human resources office for information about continuing education or certification training.

About the author

Melissa Brock

Melissa Brock is a higher education and personal finance expert with more than a decade of experience writing online content. She spent 12 years in college admission prior to switching to full-time freelance writing and editing. Read full bio.

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SOISL-Q324-048

It’s possible to refinance your student loans with bad credit, but you may face challenges getting approved with a low credit score. This may also lead to a higher interest rate.

When you refinance your student loans, a private lender will take a look at your credit score to evaluate how well you’ve paid off debt in the past. A higher credit score may improve your chances of approval and could help you secure a more competitive interest rate. But your credit score isn’t the only factor lenders review. Lenders typically also take a look at your income, current employment situation, and financial history.

Read on for strategies to refinance student loans with bad credit.

What Is Student Loan Refinancing?

Refinancing student loans means that you take some or all of your student loans and replace them with one new loan to achieve a repayment advantage. For example, you may refinance in order to get a lower interest rate and, as a result, pay less over the life of your loan. You may also refinance to extend your loan term, which will lower your monthly payments (but doing so will also result in paying more interest over time).

You can refinance both private and federal student loans. As you are deciding when to refinance student loans it’s important to understand that if you refinance federal student loans, you lose certain benefits with your loan, such as deferment and public service-based loan forgiveness.


💡 Quick Tip: Get flexible terms and competitive rates when you refinance your student loan with SoFi.

What Is Considered Bad Credit?

Your credit score is a three-digit number that shows how well you pay back debt.

What is a bad credit score? The definition of “bad credit” varies depending on the credit scoring model used. A credit scoring model is a statistical analysis used by credit bureaus to evaluate your creditworthiness. “Bad credit” simply means that your credit reports, or records of how well you’ve paid off debt, reveal negative credit actions that you’ve had in the past.

According to FICO®, one of the most popular scoring models, a bad credit score is anything below 670. Another popular scoring model, VantageScore, considers a bad credit score below 661. To put it in perspective, a credit score ranges from 300 to 850.

Some lenders require a minimum credit score to refinance student loans. Requirements vary by lender, so check in with the lenders you are considering to understand their minimum requirements. And keep in mind that lenders evaluate factors beyond just your credit score when making lending decisions.

Strategies for Refinancing With Bad Credit

If you plan on refinancing student loans with bad credit, you may want to consider backtracking and checking your credit reports. There may be mistakes on your credit reports that are hurting your credit score. For example, you have already paid off a particular loan but your credit report shows that you haven’t yet.

You can obtain a free copy of your credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com from each of the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — which track your credit.

There are other strategies you can consider as well: refinancing with a cosigner, improving your credit score or debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, looking into credit unions, considering nonprofit debt consolidation, checking into secured loans, and looking for lenders with lower credit requirements. Let’s take a look at each option for student loan refinance for bad credit.

Refinance With a Cosigner

If you have a relatively low credit score, applying with a cosigner increases your chances of getting approved for a student loan refinance.

Refinancing student debt with a cosigner means that you ask someone else to agree to help you repay a loan along with you. Cosigners are equally obligated to repay a student loan and are liable if you fail to repay your loan. Any missed payments will affect both you and your cosigner’s credit history.

Build Your Credit Score

You can build your credit score by making payments on time to your creditors, catching up on accounts for which you still owe money, and limiting credit applications. Let’s take a look at all of these student loan refinance need to know opportunities to build your credit score:

•   Make on-time payments: Making all payments on time is one of the best ways to improve your credit score. You may want to consider setting up auto pay to avoid missing or making late payments.

•   Pay off delinquent or defaulted accounts: If you have accounts for which you still owe money, pay them off. Pulling all accounts up to “paid” status can help your credit score. If you think you need help organizing and prioritizing, you may want to reach out to a credit counselor for assistance. It’s also a good idea to get current on revolving credit balances (such as credit cards and other lines of credit) because paying late or skipping payments can hurt your credit as well.

•   Limit credit applications: Continually applying for credit can hurt your credit score because every time a lender does a hard credit check, your credit takes a small hit. All of those credit checks can slow your progress in improving your credit score.

Building credit by doing things like making on-time payments is one of the best ways to improve your credit score. Use credit cards responsibly and pay off the balance each month, get a secured credit card, or become an authorized user on another individual’s credit card.

Improve Your Debt-to-Income Ratio

What is a debt-to-income (DTI) ratio? DTI refers to your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income — the amount of money you have coming into your household.

The best way to improve your DTI is to reduce your debt payments each month or add more income to your household each month. There are several ways to make this happen: paying off your debt (including credit cards, personal loans, auto loans), adding a second or side job to your already-existing income, negotiating a raise at work, working overtime, or applying for a higher-paying job.

Recommended: Why Your Debt to Income Ratio Matters

Check Credit Union Requirements

In addition to banks, online lenders, and other types of lenders, credit unions also offer student loan refinancing opportunities. A credit union is a non-profit financial services cooperative that exists to serve its members. You must be a member of a credit union in order to borrow money from it.

If you already belong to a credit union, consider finding out the credit qualifications necessary for refinancing student loans with that credit union. Shop around among credit unions or other alternative banking solutions to learn more about interest rates, overall payoff amounts, repayment flexibility, and how well each institution treats its customers.

Nonprofit Debt Consolidation

Nonprofit debt consolidation can help you put all of your debts into one manageable payment. It offers a two-pronged advantage: You lower your monthly payment and eventually eliminate unsecured debt, which is debt that isn’t backed by collateral.

Credit card debt is a good example of a debt not backed by collateral. A mortgage, on the other hand, is backed by collateral — the collateral is the home that you borrowed money to purchase. A student loan is a type of unsecured debt because it is not backed by collateral.

Why tap into a nonprofit credit counseling agency for help? They must act in your best interest, though you will have to pay fees for the service. Trained debt counselors can help you come up with a debt payment plan, debt settlement plan, debt consolidation loan, or, if absolutely necessary, declare bankruptcy.

It’s important to note that only unsecured debt is eligible for consolidation.

Secured Loans

Secured loans are backed by collateral, such as a car (in the case of an auto loan) or a house (in the case of a mortgage). If you stop making your payments, the lender can take the collateral backing your loan (the auto or home) to satisfy the debt.

Generally, personal loans are unsecured and can be used for almost any expense. However, some personal loans may be secured by some form of collateral. When evaluating a secured vs. unsecured personal loan, look at things like the interest rate and the type of collateral required to back the loan. Keep in mind that collateral can be seized by the lender if there are issues with repayment.

However, you can use a secured loan to pay for a student loan refinance if you find better terms through a secured loan. For example, you could choose to get a second mortgage to pay for educational expenses.

Unsecured debt is usually considered riskier by lenders (because it isn’t backed by collateral) and may come with a higher interest rate, which is why secured debt may seem more appealing.

Look for Lenders With Lower Credit Requirements

Think you’re ready to pursue a student loan refinance with lower credit requirements? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of doing so.

In order to get the best rates and terms, you may want to consider beefing up your credit score before you apply for a refinance. Consider taking a look at a calculator for student loan refinancing to help you learn about the costs.

Alternatives to Refinancing Student Loans

Refinancing your student loans isn’t your only option. Keep in mind that refinancing federal loans eliminates them from federal programs and protection like income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. You may also want to consider a few alternatives, including consolidation, forgiveness, deferment, or forbearance (for federal student loans), or talk to your lender about your options.

•   IDR plans: The U.S. Department of Education has a website called Federal Student Aid where student loan holders can find four types of IDR plans. They are, with the repayment terms, as follows:

◦   IDR Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Plan: 20 years

◦   Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan: 10 or 25 years

◦   Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan: 20 or 25 years

◦   Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan: 25 years

•   Consolidation: Consolidation allows you to combine all of your federal student loans into one monthly payment with one servicer. Consolidation won’t lower your interest rate — the new rate is the weighted average of your existing interest rates. You cannot consolidate private student loans — you may only refinance them.

•   Forgiveness: If you have federal student loans, you may want to consider looking into student loan forgiveness options, which means that you do not have to repay your loans in part or full if you meet specific requirements. For example, you may be able to tap into teacher loan forgiveness, Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), income-driven repayment plans, military service forgiveness, or other options.

•   Deferment or forbearance: Deferment and forbearance allow you to temporarily postpone or reduce your payments. Borrowers with federal loans may qualify to defer repayment due to cancer treatment, economic hardship, graduate school, military service and post-active student duty, rehabilitation training, unemployment, and more. Private lenders may have their own programs for forbearance. Check in with your private lender directly.

•   Talk to your lender or loan servicer: You can also talk through all your payment options with your loan servicer. If you’re having trouble making your payments, explain how and why (and be prepared to show proof).

The Takeaway

Borrowers with a low credit score (a bad credit score is defined as a FICO score below 670 or a VantageScore below 661), may find it challenging to get a student loan refinance with bad credit without a cosigner.

However, there are other avenues you can take for student loan refinancing with bad credit, including improving your credit score, improving your DTI, researching options with a credit union, non-profit debt consolidation, or getting a secured loan. You may also want to consider alternatives to refinancing private student loans with bad credit if you have federal student loans, through consolidation, forgiveness, deferment, or forbearance. You may also try talking to your lender or loan servicer for all your options, asking them about alternative options to refinance a student loan with bad credit.

Looking to lower your monthly student loan payment? Refinancing may be one way to do it — by extending your loan term, getting a lower interest rate than what you currently have, or both. (Please note that refinancing federal loans makes them ineligible for federal forgiveness and protections. Also, lengthening your loan term may mean paying more in interest over the life of the loan.) SoFi student loan refinancing offers flexible terms that fit your budget.

About the author

Melissa Brock

Melissa Brock is a higher education and personal finance expert with more than a decade of experience writing online content. She spent 12 years in college admission prior to switching to full-time freelance writing and editing. Read full bio.

Photo credit: iStock/Vladimir Vladimirov

SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.