Does anyone know about co-signing student loans?

[farraD]

Most of the time the lender will require the student to get a cosigner for their loan since most college students do not have a proven credit rating or sufficient income. When you are asked to co-sign a student loan, you need to be aware of the obligations that you are incurring by putting your name and credit rating on the dotted line.

[MojoGrrl]

Not a financial planer, don't play one on TV, can't even balance my own checkbook but ... it might reduce your FICO score as it will show you have a higher ratio of debt to income.

I've found Sallie kinda clueless in dealing with them. Not surprised about the many transfers.

Actually student loan debt is considered "good" debt and does not hurt your FICO score.

[indysteel]

Actually student loan debt is considered "good" debt and does not hurt your FICO score.

That's a bit of an oversimplification. Lenders generally look more favorably on installment loans, like student, mortgage and car loans, than they do revolving debts, like credit cards. But, ultimately, all of your debt factors into your debt-to-income ratio, which is part of what lenders look at before extending credit. And, of course, any missed payments on any type of debt is going to impact your credit.

For students, paying a loan like a student loan on time can help build good credit and establish a good FICO score. For someone like the OP, who presumably has a credit history at this point--and hopefully a good one--adding a student loan debt as a co-signor isn't likely to help her credit score all that much and could hurt her chances at getting future extensions of credit.