Paying Credit Card Debt With Student Loans
The purpose of the student loan is to help college students and their parents to pay for college education. But the natural question is whether you can use the funds for other purposes, such as repaying credit card debt with student loans.
It is usually not a good idea to pay credit card debt with student loans. If you do, you will need to take out more student loans and it may cost more in the long run. It also changes the nature of the debt, which can cause other financial headaches.
Table of Contents
Is It Possible To Paying Credit Card Debt with Student Loans
In general, credit card debt with student loans is a bad idea, To Paying Credit Card Debt with Student Loans means you pay off your debt with another form of debt, and this vicious cycle can negatively affect your creditworthiness.
In fact, depending on your student loan agreement, you may not even be eligible for this type of payment.
There are only a few rare cases where this is a good plan, even if it’s not without flaws. Whether you’ve relied on credit cards to cover your payments or taken out a personal loan for a credit card in an emergency, debt can start haunting your finances.

You may already be working on creative solutions, such as paying credit card debt with student loans. And if you’re a college student or a recent graduate, lower student loan rates are likely to perform well against higher APRs for credit cards and personal loans.
But even with the potential savings, this debt consolidation strategy of paying credit card debt with student loans is not always wise and smarter.
In addition, paying credit card debt with student loans can violate your loan agreement, which usually restricts the use of student loan money. Here’s what you need to know before considering paying credit card debt with student loans to repay credit cards.
View The Student Loan Agreement
According to the U.S. Department of Education, federal student loan funds should be used to pay for educational purposes. These costs include:
- Room and Board
- Textbooks
- Computers and other consumables and equipment
- Transportation charges to and from school, college and institution
- Child care expenses
- Tuition and fees
If you pay these costs by credit card, you can use a student loan to pay for the purchase, but if you pay credit card debt with student loans it is invalid. However, if you apply student loan money to your credit card balance as a general payment, you may have to pay other non-qualified expenses.
In the case of private student loans, the conditions for spending the money depend on the lender. Before using private loan funds to pay for other costs.
It is advisable to review the loan agreement for details. In general, however, the list of costs allowed by private creditors is expected to be similar to that provided by the federal government.
The Merit Of Repaying A Debt With A Student Loan Depends On The Interest Rate
Before using credit card debt with student loans to repay your debt, consider interest rates, Repaying credit cards and other high-interest debts with student loans may seem like a good idea when it comes to saving interest.
Federal student loan interest rates are generally designed to make colleges affordable and accessible. Currently, the fixed rate for direct funding for undergraduate education (subsidized and non-subsidized) is 2.75% for the 2020-21 academic year. For most college students, the interest rates allowed with a credit card or personal loan can be significantly lower.
Typical interest rates for credit cards are around 15.00% or higher, but some evidence suggests that student credit cards may have a much higher average APR. That’s more than five times higher than federal student loan rates, meaning that your balance grows five times faster than student loans.
The difference may be smaller if your student loan interest rate is high depending on when you borrow or if your credit card APR is low.

Is It Illegal To Use Student Loans To Pay Off Credit Cards
Despite The Potential Savings, It may not be a smart thing to pay off your credit card debt with student loans. The numbers may sound tempting, but one reason not to use credit card debt with student loans to pay off debt is that there are some key differences between a credit card, a personal loan, and an education loan.
Federal student loans offer unique benefits. They offer options such as income-based payment plans that can help make payments affordable if your income is low. The interest paid on student loans is also tax-free, which will save you more money in the long run.
Credit card debt with Student loans has historically been more difficult to repay in bankruptcy than consumer debt. This means that a student loan is more likely to follow you throughout your life, as converting consumer credit card debt with student loans debt can make debt recovery more difficult if you have to file for bankruptcy as a last resort.
In addition, keeping a credit card or personal loan and repaying it can be a more efficient way to borrow. A smarter strategy might be to focus on repaying consumer debt instead of repaying the debt and then finding a way to pay off the student loan.
Low-interest rates continue to be interest rates and this interest accrues over time. While repaying student loan debt may seem like a smart short-term strategy, you still face a large balance that can quickly become overwhelming.
Repayment Of Other Debt May Violate Your Credit Agreement
Paying Credit Card Debt with Student Loans can violate your credit agreement. Additionally, there are legal guidelines on how to use student loans. The Federal Student Aid Administration (FSA) states that all loan proceeds must be used for education expenses. You can spend student loans for expenses, including tuition, room and board, transportation, and a personal computer.
To Paying Credit Card Debt with Student Loans, means that the use of credit card debt with student loans for debt repayment may technically fall into the category of misuse of student loans.
The Department of Education has a hard time tracking and enforcing ‘abuse’, but if a lender finds out that you have used your loans in this way, you could get into trouble for breaching the loan agreement and be penalized, e.g. as a fine or you will lose your entitlement to future financial support.
You may have used student loans to cover living expenses that fall within the FSA’s definition of educational expenses, such as transportation to school /College/Institutions or a car used to travel to class.
NOTE: There may be some gray areas if your debt arose while you were in college. |
You may also be aware that you are paying off your credit card debt accrued on generally approved tuition costs from a student loan. If you used the plastic in your wallet to buy a new laptop (such as the cashback bonus), it makes more sense to use a student loan to pay off your credit card balance.
Using Student Loans To Pay Off Debt
If you pay off your high-interest debt in cash now, you can save more in the long run than spending it on your student loan balance. There are a number of ways to make this kind of progress without having to use student loans to repay debt, including:

- Get an extension and find extra resources to pay off the highest-interest debt.
- Setting up financial benefits such as graduation gifts for your loan accounts.
- Borrow money from family or friends, possibly in the form of a low-interest loan.
- Transfer the balance to a new credit card with 0% introductory interest.
- Take a loan for debt consolidation, probably with the help of a guarantor.
If you can repay your debt, try to prepay your student debt after graduation. Making payments will help you save on interest so you can strive to become completely debt-free.
Understand what caused the debt, Your budget will help you get on track and avoid these problems in the future. We also recommend that you create a savings account plan for unexpected costs.
Your budget may have been limited when you were a student, but good financial habits can help you manage your salary and prevent your debt from running out of control in the future.
Repay High-Interest Debt
The main reason for considering this option is that high-interest debt should be paid with low-interest debt. Interest rates on credit cards are generally higher than on student loans.
If you pay credit card debt with student loans and transfer debt from a credit card to a student loan, you will have to pay less to raise funds over time. Do not perform this procedure if your student loan has a higher interest rate than your credit card. Track your credit as you repay your debt,
Creditworthiness is an important indicator of your overall creditworthiness, and building good or excellent creditworthiness can help you be eligible for better credit cards and lower interest loans in the future.
When repaying a credit card debt, it is key to avoid late payments. If you are 30 days or more late with an account, the card issuer will usually report it to credit bureaus and your credit score could drop significantly.
In addition to paying on time each month, make sure you monitor your credit to understand how your actions affect your score and whether there are other areas where you can improve it.
If you seek to repay your debt and continue to practice good lending habits, you will be able to build up your credit history and be in a better position to get affordable financing in the future when you need it.
Bankruptcy is Unlikely to Put An End to Student Loans
Another reason not to pay credit card debt with student loans is to use your student loan to repay your credit card debt it can be difficult to write off your student loan debt due to bankruptcy.
It is possible, but you have to prove in court that student loans are causing you significant financial difficulties, which can be a difficult hurdle even if paying off a student loan is costly.
Credit card debt with student loans, on the other hand, is a debt that can be settled in the event of bankruptcy. So even if you don’t think you’ll have trouble paying off your debts in the future, it’s worth avoiding a situation that you may regret later.
Keep in mind, however, that filing for bankruptcy should only be considered as a last resort after you’ve exhausted your debt repayment strategies, payment options, and forgiveness options.
Consolidating Debt
Combining two debts can make the process of paying off debts more manageable for most people. This can only be done if you have already covered your tuition costs for a semester or a year and have left over your student loan with extra living cash.
Of course, you can spend that money to pay off the student loan; in most cases, it should be used for this purpose. However, if you want to completely eliminate your credit card debt and only want to make one payment per month, you can self-consolidate by paying off your credit card with the extra cash available to you.
One of the reasons you may be tempted to repay your credit card debt from a student loan is because you have the option to defer paying your student loan after you finish school. Interest rates on student loans are generally lower than on credit cards.
But adding your credit card debt to your school debt can make paying your student loan unaffordable after graduation and put you in a difficult position.
There are some options to reduce student loan repayments, but in most cases, more interest will have to be paid over time.
Disadvantages of Paying Credit Card Debt With Student Loans
Drawbacks of paying credit card debt with student loans, In each of these scenarios, no matter how necessary, repaying one debt with another is not viable in the long run because it only delays the bill that is unavoidable for its creditors. You don’t really solve the problem.
You may not want to take drastic steps to avoid payment delays that may result in a slight decrease in credit and disappearance from your records altogether within a few years. However, to avoid the default, you need to perform all possible steps.
The goal in paying debt is to always reduce the total amount you owe. You can’t get close to this goal by paying only interest or moving your debt to another place.
If you can’t pay with your credit card any other way and your credit line isn’t performing, consider using a student loan. However, it’s best to pay only the amount needed to restore your account to its current state, rather than paying your full balance. Try increasing your budget to repay your balance to minimize the negative impact of your debt transfer.
It is best for students, in particular, to use a student loan only for necessities to avoid accumulating too much debt. You will thank yourself as soon as you start earning and earning money and your payment will be due.
Conclusion
It is a bad idea to pay with credit cards with student loans. Debt repayment is even more challenging if you continue to increase your balance each month – it can feel like you have to take two steps forward and one backward.
To make things easier, stop using credit cards until you can manage your balance. Think about creating a budget that will help you cover all your expenses without debt.
If you work part-time or start a hustle as an instructor or freelancer, you can free up your budget and pay off your credit card debt. First, pay the high-interest rate card. If you have multiple credit cards, there are multiple ways to pay for them.
If your goal is to save as much money as possible over time, prioritize paying back the highest interest rate balance first. To speed up the process, use the Debt Avalanche Act to pay only the minimum amount on all cards except the one with the highest interest rate.
Apply all extra deposits to that card until full payment is made. Then take out the amount paid for that card and apply it to the card with the next highest interest rate, and so on until all your cards are paid out.
Your credit card debt may not be repaid overnight. But by proactively reducing your spending, increasing your revenue, and prioritizing high-cost balances, you can speed up the process while saving money on interest costs.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is it illegal to use a student loan to repay credit cards?
It is not explicitly illegal to use a student loan to repay credit card debt, but this can be considered a breach of the credit agreement. You should only use the student loan for education and related expenses such as room and board, books, and transportation.
Is it possible to buy an apartment with a student loan?
You can still buy an apartment with student debt if you have a solid, reliable income and can pay your salary well. However, unreliable earnings or payments make up the bulk of your total monthly budget and you may have trouble finding a loan.
Can you spend a student loan on anything?
Technically, you should spend student loan money on educational expenses such as tuition or housing. But the truth is, you can spend your student loan money on just about anything. However, just because you can spend your student loan on non-school-related purchases doesn’t mean that’s the case.
Can you buy a laptop with student loans?
Yes, you can indeed use student loans to pay for a computer. You can use student loans to pay for a new computer, as this is a pretty important college tool. You can also use your student loans to purchase software and Internet access.