[Natfinwellness] International Students & Credit Reports

[Potter, Sara]

Hi Andrea,

Here is what I have gathered from a colleague over at our Dashew Center for International Students that may be helpful:

·         The short answer is that they can’t check their credit score/report since a credit score or report is only generated when associated with a social security number.  Other information that may be of interest:
·         International students can only get a social security number if they have a job; some get an ITIN when receiving fellowships, etc. but this is for tax purposes not directly for credit purposes
·         It’s true that international students use some financial products and services, but they often have significant difficulty doing so because of the parameters around getting a social security number, and therefore, credit
o   Sometimes international students can get a credit card with an ITIN number but this doesn’t actually build their credit and usually the credit limit is not very high
o   International students have difficulty entering into rental agreements because of their lack of a credit score and are often required to pay larger deposits because they don’t have credit
o   International students are often required to get a cosigner to buy a car, for instance, but have difficulty finding people who are willing since most of their closest support network live outside the U.S.


I hope this helps and I definitely learned a few things from this myself! Thank you for bringing this up.

-Sara Potter

[https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B_MGIy4Rna4GSVZMczhVaGVEZEE&revid=0B_MGIy4Rna4GdzZpOGpyYjVKZC8yYWlEUmJ1dUF2ZUtwakNJPQ]

Sara E. Potter

M. Ed. Student Affairs | UCLA
Financial Wellness Coordinator | Dean of Students Office, UCLA
E-mail: spotter at saonet.ucla.edu<mailto:spotter at saonet.ucla.edu>
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Phone: (310)825-6901 (temp)

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________________________________
From: Natfinwellness [natfinwellness-bounces+spotter=saonet.ucla.edu at lists.osu.edu] on behalf of Pellegrini, Andrea [apelleg3 at uillinois.edu]
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2015 1:26 PM
To: National Financial Wellness Listserv
Cc: Williamson, Sheri Anna (Graduate Assistant Student Worker)
Subject: [Natfinwellness] International Students & Credit Reports

Hello All!

We have a very large international student population, and a question we have been asked a few times has come up with our students: “How can an international student, who does not have a social security number, check their credit report?”

We reached out to Experian quite a while back, but didn’t get a response (then I forgot about it!). We know that they can have credit histories since they have ITINs, sign rental leases/agreements and can use financial products and services, but it is unclear how to pull that information for the student to review/monitor.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Best,
Andrea

Andrea Pellegrini, Assistant Director

USFSCO – Providing Solutions
Student Money Management Center
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