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Best Student Loan Refinance Companies September 2021
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- $150K-$200K
- Compare prequalified rates in minutes
- Private, parent PLUS, and federal loan refinance
- 100% free, no fees
- Comparing rates will not affect your credit score
Our Pick for Flexible Terms- Customized loan terms
- Instant interest rate estimate
- No prepayment penalty
- Live customer service
Our Pick for Low Rates- Low fixed interest rates
- Personalized rates in 2 minutes
- No application, origination, or prepayment fees
- Easy online application
- Fully remote application process
- No hidden fees
- Flexible repayment terms
- Automatic payment discount of 0.25 percentage points
- Consolidate multiple loans with a single payment
- No application, origination, or disbursement fees
- No hidden fees
- 0.25% rate discounts for members
- Graduate, Parent PLUS, private loans
- No origination fees
- 0.25% APR discount with autopay
- No prepayment penalties
- Find deals from local lenders
- 0.10% APR discount for three years
- Prequalified rates in 2 minutes
- No prepayment fees
- Parent loans available
- Combine loans with your spouse
- Low rates and friendly terms
- $3 billion in loans funded
- For both private and federal loans
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Citizens Bank
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- Private, parent PLUS, and federal loan refinance
- 100% free, no fees
- Comparing rates will not affect your credit score
What is Student Loan Refinancing?
A student loan refinance involves replacing one or more student loans with a new loan with better terms from a private lender. Both private and federal student loans can be refinanced. The purpose of refinancing is to get a lower interest rate and thereby reduce the monthly payments and lifetime costs. Many private lenders, including banks, online lenders, and credit unions offer student loan refinance loans. People with federal loans can also consolidate—rather than refinance—their debts. This involves combining multiple federal loans into a single loan with one simple monthly payment. The table below shows a sample of rates for student loan refinances compared to rates for first-time private and federal student loans. The Refinance column shows the lowest rates advertised by each lender. The First-Time Column shows fixed rates for federal government loans and lowest rates from private lenders.
| Refinanced Student Loans | First-Time Student Loans |
|---|---|
| 2.25% (with autopay)* Variable / 2.58% (with autopay)* Fixed (Credible) | 1.24% Variable / 3.75% fixed (Credible) |
| 1.88% Variable / 2.50% Fixed (Earnest) | 6.6% (Federal Stafford Unsubsidized) |
| 2.25% to 6.59% APR (with AutoPay) Variable / 2.49% to 6.94% APR (with AutoPay) Fixed (SoFi) | 5% (Federal Perkins Loan) |
| 1.88%-6.15% Variable / 2.49%-6.31% Fixed (Splash Financial) | 4.236% (Federal (PLUS Loan) |
| 2.49% Variable / 2.59% Fixed (CommonBond) | 1.44% Variable / 5.45% Fixed (CommonBond) |
| 1.92% (with autopay) Variable / 2.95% w/ autopay Fixed (LendKey) | 5.05% (Federal Stafford Subsidized Loan) |
Should I Refinance my Student Loan?
As the above table shows, it is often worth refinancing a student loan. If you’ve graduated from college and have built a good credit score, then you can achieve a much lower interest rate by refinancing—and potentially save thousands of dollars in the long run.
Things to take into consideration before refinancing:
- Interest rate. Some lenders offer lower rates than others. Before you refinance, make sure your chosen lender can actually save you money.
- Credit score. Holders of student debt can refinance at a significantly reduced rate, so long as they have a solid credit score along with steady income and employment. If your credit score is poor, you may find it more difficult to achieve a reduced rate.
- Term duration. If you refinance at a lower rate but with a longer loan, then your monthly payments decrease, but you may end up paying more overall due to accruing interest.
- Remaining debt. If you’re fresh out of college and tens of thousands of dollars in debt, then a refi could make sense. But if you’ve paid off most of your loan and only have a small amount of debt to pay off, it might not be worth refinancing. True, you could save a small amount. But on the other hand, applying for any type of loan or refi can affect your credit score—which could prove damaging if you’re also in the market for a mortgage or other loan.
The Pros and Cons of Student Loan Refinancing
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Potential for major savings over life of loan | With longer term, potential to pay more over life of loan |
| Reduced monthly payments | Applying for refinance can affect credit score |
| One single payment makes life easier | By refinancing federal loan, you waive rights to cancellation or forgiveness programs |
| More flexible repayment terms | |
| Option of dropping previous co-signer from loan |
Student Loan Refinancing Requirements
Eligibility can vary slightly between lenders, but the following are standard requirements for most refinance loans:
- U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Aged 18 years or older.
- Reside in a state where your chosen lender is authorized to lend.
- Have employment, sufficient income from other sources, or have an offer of employment starting within the next 3 months.
- Have graduated with an undergraduate degree or higher from a Title IV school that’s eligible to process federal student loans.
Lenders also look at the following:
- Credit. This involves a hard credit inquiry which temporarily affects your credit score. Your credit history is the most important factor in determining your interest rate.
- Income. Your lender will ask to see your pay slips or proof of other sources of income, in order to assess whether you have sufficient monthly cash flow to meet your monthly payments.
- Savings. In addition to income, your level of savings will also help the lender assess your ability to make monthly payments.
- Debt amount. The amount of remaining debt will help the lender determine the rate and term duration of your loan.
How to Refinance a Student Loan
A student loan refinance application is similar to other loan or refinance applications. It involves the following steps:
- Checking your credit. The major credit agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) are legally obligated to share your credit history with you once every 12 months upon request, free of charge. As a general rule, credit of 700 or more is considered good, and 620-700 is average.
- Comparing lenders. You can use loan marketplaces to see loan options from multiple lenders or get a quote from a direct lender.
- Applying for your refinance. You’ll be asked to provide documentation, including: driver’s license or state ID, Social Security number, pay slips, and employment information.
Refinancing Student Loans with a Co-signer
| Benefits | Risks |
|---|---|
| Greater chance of approval | Co-signer takes on liability for debts |
| Reduced interest rate if co-signer has good credit | Damage to co-signer’s credit score in event of missed payments |
| Flexibility to release co-signer at pre-determined date in future | Potential damage to relationship with co-signer over financial matters |
A co-signer can be a:
- Parent
- Guardian
- Spouse
- Close friend
- Relative
- Anyone else who is in a strong financial position and is willing to share the liability for your debts.
Alternatives to Refinancing
If you have private student loans or private and federal loans, refinancing could be the best way to save money. But if you only have federal loans, you may want to consider debt consolidation or any of the federal government’s loan forgiveness or cancellation programs.
If you’re unable to meet the minimum payments, these are just some of the programs for being forgiven all or a portion of your loan amount:
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness. For employees of federal, state, or local government organizations, and certain non-profits.
- Teacher Loan Forgiveness. For people who have taught full-time in a low-income school or education service agency for a minimum 5 consecutive years.
- Perkins Loan Cancellation. For teachers serving low-income schools or children with disabilities. Also available to teachers of math, science, foreign languages, or other fields classified as having a shortage of qualified teachers.
- Special Circumstances. Student debt may also be canceled in the event of disability, death, bankruptcy, school closure, withdrawal from school, or if the school falsely certified the student’s eligibility for the loan.
Summary
A student loan involves a great deal of risk and reward. For most students, the risk comes from taking out tens of thousands of dollars in loans when they are at their most vulnerable—young, not-yet employed, and with no credit history. On the flipside, the reward comes by graduating and finding a job in their chosen profession. In reality, many graduates find themselves unable to pay off all their student debt. Fortunately, there are ways to cancel or at least reduce your debt payments. Many students qualify for loan forgiveness or cancellation programs, but even those who don’t qualify for federal assistance can apply for a student loan refinance and save potentially thousands of dollars as a result.Disclaimers
College Ave Student Loans products are made available through either Firstrust Bank, member FDIC or M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB, member FDIC. All loans are subject to individual approval and adherence to underwriting guidelines. Program restrictions, other terms, and conditions apply. The 0.25% auto-pay interest rate reduction applies as long as the borrower or cosigner, if applicable, enrolls in auto-pay and authorizes our loan servicer to automatically deduct your monthly payments from a valid bank account via Automated Clearing House (“ACH”). The rate reduction applies for as long as the monthly payment amount is successfully deducted from the designated bank account and is suspended during periods of forbearance and certain deferments. Variable rates may increase after consummation. $5,000 is the minimum requirement to refinance. The maximum loan amount is $300,000 for those with medical, dental, pharmacy or veterinary doctorate degrees, and $150,000 for all other undergraduate or graduate degrees. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a refi borrower with a Full Principal & Interest Repayment and a 10-year repayment term, has a $40,000 loan and a 5.5% Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 120 monthly payments of $434.11 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $52,092.61. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. Information advertised valid as of 1/27/2021. Variable interest rates may increase after consummation.
Commonbond: Offered terms are subject to change and state law restriction. Loans are offered by CommonBond Lending, LLC (NMLS # 1175900), NMLS Consumer Access. If you are approved for a loan, the interest rate offered will depend on your credit profile, your application, the loan term selected and will be within the ranges of rates shown. If you choose to complete an application, we will conduct a hard credit pull, which may affect your credit score. All Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) displayed assume borrowers enroll in auto pay and account for the 0.25% reduction in interest rate. All variable rates are based on a 1-month LIBOR assumption of 0.15% effective Oct 1, 2020 and may increase after consummation.
**SoFi Student Loan Refinance Disclaimer
Fixed rates from 2.74% APR to 6.74% APR (with autopay). Variable rates from 2.25% APR to 6.39% APR (with autopay). All variable rates are based on the 1-month LIBOR and may increase after consummation if LIBOR increases; see more at SoFi.com/legal/#1. If approved for a loan your rate will depend on a variety of factors such as your credit profile, your application and your selected loan terms. Your rate will be within the ranges of rates listed above. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. SoFi refinance loans are private loans and do not have the same repayment options that the federal loan program offers, or may become available, such as Income Based Repayment or Income Contingent Repayment or PAYE. SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Lending Corp. or an affiliate (dba SoFi), a lender licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Financing Law, license #6054612; NMLS #1121636 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). Additional terms and conditions apply; see SoFi.com/eligibility for details. SOFI RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE.
† Credible Terms and Conditions:
Credible is so confident in the personal loan rates you’ll find on Credible, we’ll give you $200 if you find and close with a better rate elsewhere. See full terms and conditions.
Nelnet Terms and Conditions:
Lowest rates listed include enrollment in auto debit, and are available only to the most creditworthy applicants. Advertised variable rates reflect the starting range of rates and fluctuate (increase or decrease) over the life of the loan.
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