A parent loan is in your name, while cosigning a private student loan will be in your child’s name. Parents are expected to pay the parent loan and the student is expected to pay their own private loan. However, even though you are cosigning, you are still equally responsible for repaying the cosigned loan. The cosigned loan also appears as debt on your credit and lowers your debt-to-income ratio. The student is not obligated to repay a parent loan.