Yes, you can generally use both federal and private student loans to pay for rent and other off-campus housing expenses. Loans are intended to cover the total "cost of attendance," which includes rent, utilities, food, and other living expenses. Funds are typically disbursed to your school, and any remaining balance after tuition is refunded to you for these costs.
Using Student Loans as Income
In most cases, you will be able to use your student loans as income. Before you start applying for apartments, read the details of your loan. Most student loans cover both tuition and related expenses, including off-campus living expenses.
Things you shouldn't use student loan money for
Debt: Don't use your loan to pay off credit cards, a car note, or other debt. You also can't use it to pay for a down payment on a new house or condo. Non-school services: You can't use your loan for hiring cleaners, paying gym fees, or any other non-education services.
To apply for subsidized housing, search for a participating subsidized housing community using the HUD map . Housing choice vouchers, also known as Section 8, can pay for all or part of the rent of privately owned housing. The vouchers can be used by families with low incomes, seniors, and people with disabilities.
*“If you're earning $20 an hour, you might be wondering — can I really afford $1,000 rent? 🤔 You're bringing in about $3,200 before taxes, and experts suggest keeping rent near 30% of your income — that's roughly $960. So yes, $1,000 rent is doable… but it's tight with other bills.
Yes, you can use FAFSA funds to help pay your rent. When you submit your FAFSA, your college uses that information to estimate your cost of attendance, which includes tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, and other essentials.
To maintain a comfortable financial cushion, we recommend aiming to spend less than 30% of your income on rent, especially if you have other significant monthly expenses like student loans, car payments, or a deep-dish pizza addiction.
Only after you pay your federal student loans can the default be removed, but it will still take seven years from the time of repayment for those accounts to be removed. Keep in mind: Federal law limits how long most types of negative information can remain on your credit report.
Key Takeaways
According to recent research from the Education Data Initiative, it costs the average student $38,270 per year to attend a four-year university in the United States. Right now, the average student loan debt in the U.S. is nearly $40,000 but many students borrow much more.
Using student loans to cover living expenses. Student loans are typically disbursed directly to the school to cover tuition and fees, plus housing and meals if you're living on campus. Which means you don't usually have to do anything more to cover your bill if the total loan and aid cover your entire college costs.
Direct Stafford Loan. Direct Stafford Loans are student loans that must be repaid and are available to both undergraduate and graduate students. First-year undergraduates are eligible for loans up to $5,500. Amounts increase for subsequent years of study, with higher amounts for graduate students.
50% of your budget goes to necessities: rent, utilities, transportation, insurance, groceries, etc. 30% goes to wants: dining out, shopping, gym membership, entertainment, etc. 20% goes towards savings and debt repayment: student loans, auto loans, credit cards, emergency savings, etc.
Most student loan borrowers with outstanding debt owed less than $25,000 on their loans. The median amount of education debt in 2024 among those with any outstanding debt for their own education was between $20,000 and $24,999.
You will probably need to earn a gross income of $100,000 in order to comfortably afford to rent a $2,500 apartment, based on the 30% rule.
Some of the most common FAFSA errors are: Leaving blank fields: Too many blanks may cause miscalculations and an application rejection. Enter a '0' or 'not applicable' instead of leaving a blank. Using commas or decimal points in numeric fields: Always round to the nearest dollar.
If a student lives in off-campus housing, they can typically use 529 account funds to pay rent – but only up to the amount the school lists as the official cost of attendance for housing.