16 Best Student Loan Refinancing Companies
Student loans are a regular occurrence in the United States. According to Experiments, Americans carry $38,792 in student loan debt, on average. If your loans have a high-interest rate, your loan balance can quickly balloon out of control.
Student loan refinancing can be a smart strategy to manage your debt. By working with a private lender to take out a loan for your existing debt, you can lower your interest rate, reduce your monthly payment, or even pay off your loans early.
In this guide I will write about different student loan refinancing companies but before I continue always have in mind that no student loan refinance company is perfect for every borrower. These student loan companies are a good starting point for most people, but you accept the one with the best interest rate, fees, terms and conditions to suit your needs.
Best Student Loan Refinancing Companies
If you’ve been looking for the best companies for student loan refinancing, then here is a complete list of the most recommended student loan companies including private student loan refinancing companies and federal loans.
Splash Financial
Splash Financial is based in Cleveland and can help U.S. citizens and permanent residents refinance federal, private and Parent PLUS loans. it is a student loan refinancing marketplace that uses its network of banks, credit unions and other lenders to match borrowers with refinancing options.
Splash Financial also offers a specialized refinance program for doctors and dentists completing residencies and fellowships.
Splash Financial began in 2017 as a direct lender. But now it’s a marketplace that connects borrowers to its third-party lending partners rather than servicing its own loans.
Splash Financial offers student loans with no original fees and unique repayment options. For example, they’re one of the few lenders that allow spouses to refinance together.
They offer loans between $5,000 and no maximum. They also have some of the lowest rates for qualified borrowers. Repayment term options and available borrower protections will vary depending on the specific lender that you choose from the Splash Financial marketplace.
Pentagon federal credit union
Pentagon Federal credit unions the second-largest credit union in the nation that offers student loan refinancing. PenFed’s student loan products are provided exclusively by online lenders Purefy.
The company offers fixed- and variable-rate options for borrowers — students, parents and couples — refinancing up to $300,000 in private or federal student loan debt, with loan payment terms ranging from five to 15 years.
Earnest
Earnest is an online lender offering private student loans to college and graduate students, as well as student loan refinancing. The company was founded in 2013. Borrowers can choose their own loan terms to fund up to the full cost of their education.
They give you the ability to change your loan – you can refinance your loan for free, change payment dates, and even skip a payment once a year and make it up later.
Earnest has no set income requirements for borrowers. They are also fee-free and offer unemployment protection to pause your monthly payments if you lose your job.
Also, Earnest is one of the few lenders that will allow you to refinance even if you didn’t finish your bachelor’s or associate’s degree (assuming you meet their other lending criteria).
Laurel Road
Laurel Road offers to refinance for undergraduate and certain associate degrees but is not offering graduate loans for the 2022-2023 academic year. Parent loan refinancing through Laurel Road allows refinancing of federal parent and private parent loans and offers qualifying students the opportunity to assume the debt.
In 2019, Laurel Road became part of KeyBank, which offers community and corporate banking services. Laurel Road’s student loans are serviced through the Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri, also known as MOHELA, and the company is headquartered in New York City.
SoFi
SoFi is a San Francisco- based company, it is an online lender founded by Stanford business school students in 2011. Originally focused on a student loan refinancing, and added private student loans in 2019.
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Nelnet
Nelnet Bank was founded in 2020. It is one of the largest servicers of federal student loans that offer private student loans and refinance options. Private student loans feature a co-signer release, plus a choice of several repayment plans and interest rate savings if you set up automatic payments. Nelnet Bank can refinance a Parent Direct PLUS Loan into a student’s own name.
Purefy
Founded in 2014, Purefy is a student loan refinance rate comparison site, and it also originates refinanced student and parent loans via a partnership with Pentagon Federal Credit Union.
As a rate comparison tool, Purefy shares interest rates and terms from lending partners, including Earnest, ISL Education Lending and College Ave. This lender review will focus on the loan refinancing options Purefy and PenFed offer together.
LendKey
LendKey is a student loan refinancing lender that pools money from community banks and credit unions to offer well-priced student loans to borrowers. They offer loans between $5,000 and $300,000, depending on the degree earned by the loan holder. For example, the lowest amount is for undergraduate degrees, which cap at $125,000.
LendKey’s digital platform connects borrowers who need private student loans or refinancing loans with credit unions and community banks. Since 2009, LendKey has helped more than 135,000 people by funding $5 billion in loans. The company offers fixed- and variable-rate loans for undergraduate and graduate students.
NB: LendKey does not allow refinancing for borrowers who didn’t graduate.
College Ave
College Ave is founded in 2014 and based in Wilmington, Delaware, College Ave offers undergraduate, graduate and parent loans for students enrolled at schools affiliated with College Ave in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
College Ave’s advantage is speed, with applications that take a few minutes to complete and instant decisions. They offer both private student loans and student loan refinancing.
Their private student loans allow some interesting repayment options, such as an interest-only payment, a deferred payment, and a fixed-rate payment. And existing borrowers can refinance a loan as low as $5,000 or as much as $300,000 depending on their degree type.
Sparrow Student Loans
Sparrow was founded in 2020, it is an online marketplace where students and parents can fill out a single application to see whether they qualify for loan offers from a variety of lenders. Although Sparrow is not a lender, the free service allows you to compare rates across lending partners. Sparrow is also available to international students.
Education Loan Finance(ELFI)
Education Loan finance is a student loan program offered by Tennessee-based South East Bank since 2015. The company provides private student loans and refinancing options for private and federal student loans.
Whether you’re trying to refinance existing student loans at low-interest rates, or you’re a parent looking to refinance a Parent PLUS Loan into your child’s name, ELFI (or Education Loan Finance) is one of the best lenders out there.
The ELFI loan minimum is $10,000 for refinancers, with the maximum being your outstanding loan balance. This can be a huge win for borrowers with high student loan debt, especially doctors.
ELFI doesn’t have specific credit minimums posted, but they do require borrowers to be creditworthy (or have a creditworthy cosigner). One of the few downsides of ELFI, however, is that it’s one of the few lenders on this list that does not offer a cosigner release program.
Lend-Grow
Lend-Grow is an online lending marketplace founded in 2019 that matches borrowers with local lenders in its network. The Reston, Virginia, business partners with small and midsize banks and credit unions that compete to give borrowers low student loan refinancing rates. Private and federal loans from $5,000 to $750,000, including Parent Direct PLUS loans, can be refinanced.
Credible
Credible is a loan comparison marketplace that allows would-be borrowers to shop around for loans that meet their needs – including mortgages, mortgage refinancing, student loans, student loan refinancing and personal loans. The company was founded in 2013 in San Francisco as a tool to empower borrowers to shop rates and products.
Massachusetts Educational Financial Authority (MEFA)
The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority is a state-chartered nonprofit established in 1982 to offer low-cost financing options to college students and their families. You can live anywhere in the U.S. and access Boston-based MEFA’s private student loans, including undergraduate, graduate or refinancing options.
Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA)
The Rhode Island Student Loan Authority is a nonprofit quasi-state authority that provides college financing to students and parents. The lender specializes in providing loans to Rhode Island residents and students, though not all loans have residency requirements.
Discover
Discover Bank has been operating for more than 100 years, and since 2010, it has offered private student loans to students attending more than 2,400 colleges and universities. Loans of up to 100% of education costs with fixed or variable rates are available.
How to Choose the Best Student Loan Refinance Company
You can select the right student loan to refinance company for your needs by reviewing eligibility requirements and these key factors:
Student loan refinance rates
Low-interest rates are key. When you compare student loan refinance companies, look for competitive interest rates so you can pay the lowest APR possible.
- Fixed-rates range. Student loan refinances rates will vary based on your lender and credit, as well as loan terms and market rates. Fixed-interest-rate loans have a rate and monthly payment that don’t change over the life of the loan.
- Variable-rates range. Variable-rate loans may initially have lower interest rates than fixed-rate loans, but your monthly payments and rate may change while you repay the loan. If your interest rate rises unexpectedly, you’ll be on the hook for higher monthly payments.
Student loan refinances companies usually advertise interest rate ranges on their websites, so that’s a good place to start. Some lenders offer a rate check option. This allows you to prequalify or see estimated student loan refinance rates and terms using a soft credit check, which won’t hurt your credit. It’s a good idea to check rate options before you formally apply.
Loan and refinancing terms
Make sure a student loan refinancing company offers terms that meet your needs. Compare loan amounts and repayment terms to determine a good fit.
- Maximum loan amount. In some cases, lenders don’t have maximums at all. The average borrower won’t need to worry about maximum loan amounts although this could be a concern for some borrowers with an exceptionally high student loan balance.
- Minimum loan amount. Student loan refinancing companies may require you to refinance at least $5,000, and some may expect you to refinance more. If you have a small amount of student debt, you might not be able to refinance it.
- Loan repayment term. Refinancing lenders may offer loan repayment terms as short as five years or as long as 25 years. Choosing a shorter repayment term could increase your monthly payment but reduce the interest you pay and get you out of student debt sooner.
- Autopay deduction. Many lenders offer borrowers a 0.25-point APR discount if they sign up for automatic payments through your bank.
Conclusion
Having gone through the various student loan financing companies, have it in mind that student loan refinancing isn’t for everyone. However, if you’re able to afford your loans on the standard 10-year repayment plan, and don’t plan to take advantage of any student loan forgiveness program, then you should strongly consider student loan refinancing.
Moreso, before accepting that loan, make sure you shop around to get the best rate possible. Good credit also can help you secure a more competitive rate, so pay your bills on time and keep your credit card balances low.
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