I chuckled over this one. I married the summer before my senior year of college. It was 1973, and about to turn 21. When I went to the bank to sign papers for my final college loan, I balked when I saw it was made out for me and my dad to sign. "I'm married. I'll sign in my own name," I told them. "That's fine," they said. "We'll just revise this to remove your dad's name and add your husband's."

"No, you won't," I told them. "It's my loan, not my husband's. I'm of age now. I'm doing great in school, and I'll be paying off all 4 loans. There's no good reason to require that I have a co-signer."

After much stuttering, my banker finally conceded that I could sign in my own name.

I graduated on time, and paid off all four loans ahead of schedule. It didn't hurt that I was majoring in engineering.