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Best Student Loan Refinance Companies
Finding the best student loan refinance company can help you lower your interest rate, reduce monthly student loan payments, and simplify your loans. With so many lenders offering refinancing options, it’s important to compare interest rates, fees, repayment terms, and borrower benefits before deciding.
We’ve carefully reviewed the top private student loan refinance companies, evaluating their cost, availability, flexibility, and customer service to help you find the best option for your financial situation.
Wondering how much that loan is going to cost you? Check out our free Loan Calculator
Input your loan terms and we’ll tell you how much you can expect to pay monthly and in total
Comparing Student Loan Refinancing Options
Be careful when refinancing federal student loans into private student loans. Doing so will result in losing some benefits, such as
- Federal student loan forgiveness
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness
- Income-driven repayment options
- Deferment and forbearance options
Another option for federal student loans is a direct consolidation loan, which combines multiple loans into one loan. However, federal consolidation will not lower your interest rate.
Understanding these key aspects, as well as the other pros and cons of a student loan refinance, is important to determine whether it is the right option for you.
Interest Rates
Lenders offer both fixed and variable interest rates. Fixed rates will not change over the life of the refinanced loan, while variable rates will fluctuate with the market rate.
Your interest rate will be determined by current reference market rates (usually SOFR), your credit history, and the length of your repayment period.
To protect your credit score, consider comparing rates with multiple lenders that offer soft credit checks, which don’t impact your credit score, before submitting a full application. Once you find the best rate, you can proceed with a hard credit check to finalize your refinance loan.
One of the primary benefits of refinancing student loans is getting a low interest rate, so most borrowers get rates from several lenders to find the lowest rate.
Repayment Terms
Your repayment term is the length of time you will repay your refinanced student loan. While longer repayment terms may result in lower monthly payments, the overall amount paid on those loans is generally longer, and interest rates are usually higher.
It is also important to evaluate refinancing companies’ policies regarding hardship deferment and death/disability discharges.
Cosigner Release
If refinancing with a cosigner, borrowers may want the opportunity to release the cosigner from responsibility for the student loan in the future. This means the borrower takes full responsibility for the loan after meeting certain conditions.
This is a popular choice when refinancing Parent PLUS loans, with students taking over responsibility for repayment from their parent borrowers.
Student Loan Refinance Rating Methodology Overview
As mentioned, we have developed a methodology for ranking private student loans. Our methodology considers the advantages and disadvantages of each student loan relative to all other student loan options. We specifically rate each loan in four main categories:
- Cost: Variables such as interest rates and loan fees.
- Availability: Eligibility criteria such as minimum credit score requirements and income thresholds.
- Flexibility: Repayment terms and similar variables, including grace periods and deferments.
- Customer Service: How the lender services their loans to borrowers with variables such as complaint rates and self-service options.
FAQ
Important Disclaimers
Savingforcollege.com provides our readers with free access to objective information, articles and tools to help them make informed decisions about saving and paying for education. We are able to do this because we are compensated by our partners, including some private student lenders. Some, though not all, of the products featured here are offered by partners who may pay us a sales commission. Our partnerships do not influence our ratings or reviews, which are based on in-depth research and objective methodologies, though they may influence which products we write about and where those products appear on our site. Our opinions are our own.
While Savingforcollege.com strives to keep our information up to date, the lender rates, terms and other information are subject to change at any time.
Exhaust all other resources, such as scholarships and grants, before borrowing student loans. If you need to borrow loans, federal student loans offer many benefits that private student loans do not. Read the fine print and disclaimer from any potential lender and understandhow student loans work before borrowing.
Savingforcollege.com is an independent publisher. We do not provide legal, financial, accounting or tax advice. The information and tools published on this website are general in nature and may not apply to your specific circumstances. You should seek specific guidance from a qualified legal, financial, accounting or tax professional.
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