Student Loan Consolidation & Refinancing Lenders for 2018

More Information About Student Loan Refinancing

We know the student loan refinancing process can seem complicated. That's why we put together the following information to help borrowers better understand the process.

How to Decide if Refinancing is Right for You

When you first hear about student loan refinancing, it may seem like a no-brainer. Saving money on interest? More fitting repayment term? What’s not to like?

While there are certainly benefits to refinancing, there are some things to consider to decide if it is the right move for you. In this section, we'll go over the benefits of refinancing, the downsides, and one alternative to consider.

Benefits of Refinancing

Lower Interest Rate

When you apply for refinancing, you'll be able to see if you qualify for an interest rate that is lower than what you currently have. If you do, then you may be able to save a lot of money depending on the repayment term you select. When you have a lower interest rate, less money will be charged on your principal balance each month. This is especially beneficial if you have student loans with high interest rates.

New Repayment Term and Monthly Payment

As mentioned above, when you refinance student loans, you will have the option to choose a new repayment term. Lenders typically offer term lengths anywhere from five to 20 years. This means you can choose from the following:

• Reduce your current repayment term - increasing your monthly payment but saving you more money as compared to longer terms
• Extend your repayment term - lowering your monthly payment but possibly increasing the cost of your loan due to interest as compared to shorter terms
• Keep your repayment term the same - keeping your monthly payment about the same and likely saving you money if you receive a lower interest rate as compared to current loans

New Servicer

If you don’t like your current servicer, you will most likely receive a new one when you refinance, though this doesn’t mean that your new servicer will be better. When you think about which lender you want to refinance with, you may want to see which servicer your new lender works with and check out some customer reviews.

Release a Cosigner From Your Loans

If you have a private student loan with a cosigner, you may be able to remove your cosigner from your loan when you refinance. This will release them from their shared responsibility to repay the debt and will free up some credit for them if they want to do something like apply for a new auto loan or mortgage.

Downsides of Refinancing

The main downside of refinancing is that your federal student loan(s) will turn into a private student loan. This means that you will lose access to federal benefits, protections, and repayment plans, including the following:

Losing Access to Income Driven-Repayment Plans

There are a group of federal repayment plans that limit monthly payments to the borrower’s income. This can be helpful if borrowers are struggling financially and want to reduce their monthly payments. This will usually end up costing them more over the life of the loan, however.

Losing Eligibility for Student Loan Forgiveness

Loan forgiveness is not an option for most people, but if you work in certain jobs in the public sector or in certain low-income areas as a nurse or teacher, you may be able to qualify for student loan forgiveness after a specified number of on-time monthly payments. However, if you refinance student loans that would otherwise be eligible for forgiveness, you'd lose that option. So first carefully consider whether the benefits of refinancing outweigh losing your eligibility for loan forgiveness.

Possibly Lose Student Loan Discharge Benefits

Federal student borrowers’ loans will be discharged if they die. This means that parents and other relatives will not be responsible for repayment. This may not be the case with some student loan refinance lenders. If a lender does not offer this benefit, then your parents or other family members might be on the hook for your loans if anything were to happen to you.

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An Alternative to Refinancing: Federal Direct Consolidation Loan

Are you trying to figure out how to consolidate student loans with the government, not with a private lender? Then you've come to the right place. Read on to learn more about federal consolidation.

You can, in fact, consolidate federal student loans without a new private lender. The Department of Education allows you to consolidate federal student loans through the Direct Consolidation Loan program for free. It does not, however, allow you to refinance student debt.

When you take out a Direct Consolidation Loan, you replace multiple federal student loans with one, requiring only one payment per month. To qualify, you must have one or more federal loans (Direct or FFEL) that are in repayment or in a grace period.

In addition, some existing consolidation loans can be re-consolidated if you include an additional Direct or FFEL loan, although you may be able to re-consolidate an FFEL loan without including other loans.

How to Consolidate Student Loans Through the Government

You can apply for a Direct Consolidation Loan after you leave school, drop below half-time enrollment, or graduate. However, you cannot consolidate defaulted loans unless you first make arrangements with the current servicer, or you agree to repay the consolidated loan under one of the income-driven plans.

The Federal Student Loan website allows you to apply for a Direct Consolidation Loan electronically or with paper forms. You can apply online by first choosing the existing loans, then picking one of the many repayment plans. You then sign the application after you review all the terms and conditions. The servicer will arrange to pay off your existing debt and set up your consolidated repayments.

Normally, repayment of a Direct Consolidation Loan commences within 60 days of disbursement. If your existing debt is still in its grace period, you may be able to delay repayment until your grace-period end date. Your repayment period will be 10 to 30 years, depending on several factors.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. Simplifies and centralizes your repayment schedule
2. Offers the opportunity to reduce your monthly payments
3. Offers the opportunity to adopt an income-driven repayment plan
4. May convert variable rates to fixed rates

Cons:

1. May increase the number of payments and interest paid
2. Does not include private and parent student loans
3. You may lose certain existing benefits
4. Interest rate is not lowered
5. Does not save money like refinancing and consolidating through a private lender

Student Loan RefinancingEligibility Requirements

There are many things that lenders consider when deciding if you are a good candidate for refinancing. The following are the requirements that lenders typically consider, but certain lenders may have other requirements as well.

Eligible Loans

Typically, lenders will refinance both federal and private student loans from undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools. Some lenders may have specific criteria for which schools and degrees are eligible, however. A common requirement we have seen is that the borrower must have graduated from a Title IV school.

Credit History

In order to be approved for refinancing, you have to have a good to excellent credit score. This is because your credit score shows how much of a risk you are to the lender. Typically, you will need at least a 660-credit score, though we have seen applicants get approved with lower scores and rejected with higher scores.

Repayment History

Though this goes hand-in-hand with credit score, you will also need to have a solid repayment history on your current student loans. Student loan refinance lenders don’t like to see a track record of missed payments as this means you are more likely to miss payments on the loan they are giving you.

Annual Income

Some lenders may also look at your annual income to gauge if you will be able to afford the monthly payments on your new loan. If you have too low or inconsistent income, you may be rejected.

U.S. Citizenship

Most lenders require that you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to be approved for refinancing.

State Requirements

Some lenders may only accept applicants from certain states. Make sure that the lender you are considering accepts applicants from your state before going through with the full application.

How Cosigners Affect Refinancing

When it comes to paying for college, many borrowers are turning to private student loans to close the gap between savings, student aid, scholarships, grants, and federal student loans. In many cases, lenders require borrowers under the age of 25 to have a cosigner in order to be approved.

The cosigner requirement enables many students to borrow money for college or graduate school who otherwise would not qualify for student loans on their own, but it can be a significant burden for family members or friends who serve as cosigners. Like new private student loans, borrowers looking to refinance can benefit by adding a cosigner.

Who Can Cosign?

A cosigner is a person who assumes equal responsibility for a student loan. If the primary borrower either does not repay the loan or goes into default, the cosigner becomes responsible for the loan. In some cases, the entire amount of the student loan may be due immediately if the primary borrower goes into default. Otherwise, the cosigner may be required to take over the monthly payments on behalf of the borrower.

With that being said, borrowers should choose a parent, guardian, or other close family member or friend who is willing to accept joint responsibility with you for your loan. The only thing to keep in mind when choosing a cosigner is that they must have a good credit score in order for them to help you out.

Why Use a Cosigner?

The rationale behind cosigners is that in most situations, the primary borrower is young, and probably will not have much credit history. Private student lenders and student loan refinance lenders cannot evaluate their credit risk because the borrowers may not have a track record of paying bills on time, or for borrowing money and repaying it.

There is no way for lenders to know if these applicants are a good credit risk. For this reason, they are reluctant to lend large sums of money or refinance large sums of money without a guarantee that someone will be responsible in the event that the primary borrower will be unable to pay the debt.

A cosigner with a credit history and a higher credit score can help a borrower be approved for student loan refinancing and consolidation, and help them obtain a lower interest rate. This is because the lender knows that if the primary borrower is unwilling or unable to pay back the student loan, the cosigner will be required to assume the payments.

What Are the Risks of Cosigning?

Of course, there are drawbacks to being a cosigner for a refinanced student loan. If something happens to the primary borrower — including death, disability, unemployment, or simple financial irresponsibility — then the cosigner will be required to pay back the loan.

As a cosigner you will be required to pay back to loan if the primary borrower fails to do so, regardless of the reason for his or her failure. Late payments or missed payments can also negatively impact your credit score.

Can Cosigners Ever Be Released From the Loans?

There is a method by which cosigners can be let off the hook after certain conditions are met. Once a student has graduated from college or graduate school and has started making regular, on-time payments, the cosigner may be able to obtain a release when refinancing. Most lenders have a program that permits borrowers to reapply for refinancing under their own names only, releasing the cosigners from responsibility. Check with your lender to determine if there is a cosigner release program through refinancing, and what the terms of the program are.

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Student Loan Refinancing and Consolidation Application Process

If you have decided to refinance your student loans, congratulations on taking control of your financial future! For many borrowers, refinancing is a tool that can save substantial money, both in monthly payments and over the life of a loan. Here are the general steps to the student loan refinancing application process:

1. Do your research to see if refinancing is for you
2. Compare options using LendEDU's comparison tool for free (optional)
3. Choose a lender to apply to
4. Fill out basic background and education information
5. Upload the required documents
6. See if you are pre-qualified
7. Wait for full approval/denial from lender

When you apply for a student loan refinancing, it is like applying for a new loan. The bank or lender will look at your credit score, income, the amount of savings you have, your educational background, and the number of on-time payments that you have made so far with your student loans.

Generally, your credit score must be no lower than the mid-600s (660 or higher) to qualify, or you may need a cosigner. Each lender will have different specific requirements, such whether or not you can still be in school when you apply, the maximum and minimum balance that you can have in order to refinance, and the number of on-time payments you must make before you can apply to refinance your loan.

To start the process, you should gather information about your student debt. If you do not have a copy of your student loan documents, you can get them in one of two ways. For federal student loans, you can view them directly online at the Federal Student Aid portal or the National Student Loan Data System. You will need to log in using the PIN that you used to apply for student aid.

Private student loans can be found via your credit report. You are entitled to a free annual copy of your credit report, which can be obtained from one of the major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. Once you have determined which loan companies hold your loans, you can get a copy of your loan documents directly from those companies.

Once you have all of the information about your student loans, carefully consider your refinancing options. LendEDU allows borrowers to compare a number of lenders, providing information such as rates, whether the rates are variable or fixed, terms, loan types, and ranking. This level of transparency empowers borrowers to make the best possible decision when it comes to refinancing their student debt. Rates for these loans range from as low as 2.39% to 12%.

If you decide to apply for a loan through a bank or other lender, the lender will review your application and if you are approved, will decide your interest rate based on the factors discussed above. Your new servicing company will then pay off all of your old student loans, and you will receive statements from the new lender each month. Instead of receiving multiple statements and paying multiple bills, you will have one payment each month.

With LendEDU’s simple online comparison tool, refinancing federal and private student loans is a simple, straightforward process that can help save you money.

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How Refinancing Interest Rates Work

Student loan refinance rates can be as low as 2.39%. Refinancing to lower rates can save some borrowers upwards of $20,000 over the life of their loan. Also, you can consolidate multiple student loans into one when refinancing.

Over the last couple of years, student loan refinancing and consolidation has become a hot topic in the United States. As it sounds, refinancing allows undergraduate and graduate borrowers to refinance student debt at a potentially lower interest rate.

That being said, not all student loans are created equal. Interest rates usually vary by loan type, rate type, and creditworthiness. If you find yourself paying 4% to 10% in interest each year, you are paying too much.

Refinancing can be a smart choice as a way to lower your interest rate or to change your interest rate from variable to fixed. But in order to understand whether or not refinancing is a good option, you first need to understand the basics of how student loan refinance rates work.

Current Student Loan Refinancing Interest Rates

Fixed Rates

3.09% - 8.34%

Variable Rates

3.09% - 8.34%

How Interest Rates Work in General

Interest rates are the amount that a lender charges a borrower for the use of money, typically expressed as a percentage of the total amount borrowed. For example, if you borrowed $10,000, and the interest rate was 10%, then you would pay $1,000 to the lender for the use of that money. Typically, interest rates are charged on a yearly basis, which is known as an annual percentage rate, or APR. Over the life of a loan, interest rates can represent a substantial amount of money. In the $10,000 example above, in a five-year term, the total interest paid would be $2,748.23 — or nearly one-third of the total amount of money borrowed.

Student Loan Refinancing Interest Rate Information

Student loan refinance rates can be either variable or fixed. A fixed rate means that the interest rate is set when you sign the documents and will remain the same throughout the life of the loan. Federal student loan interest rates are set each year based on the financial market. Rates will vary based on the loan type but will not depend on your credit score. All federal student loans issued after 2006 have fixed interest rates. In contrast, private student loans with fixed interest rates are based on the credit score of the primary borrower and/or the cosigner. When you refinance and consolidate your student loans with a private lender, you can typically choose a fixed or variable interest rate.

Variable interest rates will change based on the prime rate or the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). Variable interest rates often start out lower than fixed interest rates, but they can be risky because they can rise. If you are considering obtaining a variable rate loan, review the terms, including whether there is a cap on the interest rate. You should also pay off the loan as quickly as possible to reduce the risk of a sharp rise in the interest rate.

How to Qualify for Lower Interest Rates

If you would like to qualify for a lower interest rate for your refinanced loans, there are a number of ways to do so. First, consider a shorter loan repayment term. The less time you take to repay your student debt, the lower your interest rate will typically be.

Second, you can spend some time building your credit score. The higher your credit rating, the lower your interest rate will be — and the more money you will ultimately save. Building your credit can take time, but it can be as simple as making regular, on-time payments with your bills, never charging more than you can afford to pay back, or taking out a small loan and paying it off in a timely manner.

Third, consider using a cosigner to lower your interest rate. A family member or close friend with an established credit history can sign the loan with you. You will retain primary responsibility, but their signature will help you get a lower rate. After a period of time, you may be able to apply for the loan under your name to release the cosigner.

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Companies That Don't Offer Refinancing & Consolidation

Students and graduates have student loans from a vast array of banks and lenders across the United States. These lenders each have specific programs, loan terms and conditions, and may not offer the same opportunities when it comes to consolidating or refinancing private student loans. Here are five major lenders that do not offer refinancing — along with what you can do if you have loans from these companies and want to refinance your loans.

Sallie Mae

Sallie Mae Corporation is a consumer banking company that was originally set up in 1973 to provide federal educational loans. Once the government started directly lending all federal student loans, Sallie Mae shifted to the private student loan space. It ultimately put most of its loan servicing operation into a separate entity known as Navient Corporation, which is the largest servicer of federal student loans. Navient is a collector on behalf of the Department of Education. Sallie Mae offers a variety of private student loans, including K-12 loans, undergraduate loans, career and technical school loans, graduate and professional school loans, and bar study and residency loans. Sallie Mae does not offer refinancing options for its borrowers, however.

PNC

PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., is a financial institution based in Pittsburgh that offers a number of private student loan options for undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, PNC offers specialized loans for health and medical professionals, including loans for residency interviews and relocation expenses. Like Sallie Mae, PNC does not offer refinancing and consolidation for student loan borrowers.

Citibank

Citibank is the consumer division of Citigroup. It previously offered student loans as part of its overall financial services, but no longer participates in the student loan business. However, it still services outstanding student loans. Citibank does not offer refinancing of its student loans, though you could refinance and consolidate old Citibank student loans through one of the lenders listed at the top of this page.

Chase

JPMorgan Chase, or Chase, is a banking and financial services group headquartered in New York City. Like Citibank, Chase no longer offers private student loans. Currently, American Education Services (AES) services Chase private student loans, while ACS Education Services (ACS) handles Chase federal student loans. Chase does not offer refinancing or consolidation of its student loans.

Great Lakes

Great Lakes is a nonprofit federal student loan servicer based in Wisconsin. It manages federal student loans on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. This company does not offer loans itself, but services loans offered by the federal government. Because Great Lakes only handles federal student loans, and not private loans, refinancing is not an option with this loan servicer. However, consolidation may be possible through the Department of Education. In addition, you could discuss other repayment options with Great Lakes, such as income-based repayment, forbearance or loan forgiveness.

These banks are just five examples of companies that do not offer refinancing as an option for their borrowers. However, just because your loan servicing company does not offer refinancing does not mean that you are barred from refinancing your student loans.

Refinancing allows you the opportunity to choose your own lender from a variety of options. When you compare banks via LendEDU’s online comparison tool, you can review lenders’ interest rates, loan length, ranking and a number of other terms to determine which refinancing loan will best fit your needs.

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Refinancing Parent PLUS Loans

Parents of dependent undergraduate students can receive a federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan if parent and child both meet the general eligibility requirements. The obligation to repay the loan rests solely with the parent, and the Department of Education doesn’t permit the direct transfer from parent to child. However, there is a work-around: the child can apply to a participating private bank or company to refinance in the child’s name.

Several student loan refinancing companies, including SoFi, Laurel Road (A Division of Darien Rowayton Bank), and CommonBond offer this option to children whose parents took out a Direct Parent PLUS Loan. Generally, the child must have graduated with at least a bachelor’s degree and be professionally employed.

Each student loan refinance company evaluates the child’s application using its own criteria, but generally, the lenders want to be sure that the child can repay the loan. Typically, this requires the child to provide information about financial history, career experience, the school attended, the kind of degree received, and current income and expenses.

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State of Student Loan Refinancing Report 2018

In 2017, we presented our first ever State of Student Loan Refinancing Report. We realized that there wasn’t good public data for consumers on the private student loan refinancing process so we decided to use our own data to shed some light on the industry. In 2018, we presented our second ever State of Student Loan Refinancing Report to see what had changed from the year before.

Here at LendEDU, we work with all of the major student loan refinancing companies such as SoFi, Citizens Bank, College Ave, Earnest, LendKey, and CommonBond. Over the last year we collected industry data on over 30,000 applicants. We used this data to help consumers better understand the student loan refinancing process - including average credit score of an approved applicant, approval rate, average repayment terms after refinancing, and more.

Besides the key findings shown immediately after this, you can see the full results and the methodology of our study by clicking the dropdown menu below.

Key Findings

Full Results & Methodology

1. What is the average FICO credit score of someone approved for refinancing?

We found that the average approved refinance applicant had a FICO credit score of 764.

2. What proportion of refinance applicants are denied for student loan refinancing?

We found that 58.07 percent of applicants were denied for student loan refinancing, while 41.93 percent of applicants were approved.

3. What is the average interest rate received after refinancing student loan debt?

We found that the average refinanced student loan had an interest rate of 5.56 percent, including ACH AutoPay discounts.

4. What proportion of approved applicants refinance after being approved?

We found that 42.78 percent of approved refinance applicants ended up completing the process.

5. What is the average amount of student loan debt refinanced?

We found that the average amount refinanced was $66,453.

6. What is the average term length of a refinanced student loan?

We found that the average term length was 11.73 years after refinancing.

7. How long does the refinancing process take after being approved?

We found that it took an average of 34.33 days from the point when an applicant was approved to the point when the loan was funded.

8. What proportion of refinanced student loans are cosigned?

We found that 33.21 percent of refinanced loans were cosigned.

9. What is the difference in the interest rate between a cosigned loan vs. a non-cosigned loan?

We found that, on average, cosigned loans had interest rates that were 0.54 percent lower than non-cosigned refinance loans.

10. What are the most popular states for student loan refinancing applicants?

We found that California, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts were the most popular states for student loan refinancing.

Methodology

For this study, LendEDU analyzed over 32,000 student loan refinance applications from 2017. The applicant data was collected from our lender partners, SoFi, Citizens Bank, College Ave, Earnest, LendKey, CommonBond, Laurel Road, and ELFI.

We believe that the ​eight aforementioned companies make up the majority of the student loan refinancing market. The application data was weighted based on the proportion of applicants. All of the applicants were sent to the eight lending companies from the LendEDU website.

Each lender provides slightly different reporting and data. Some lenders did not provide certain data fields. Due to privacy concerns, we are unable to provide applicant weighting or confirm lending specific data. ​

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Other Student Loan Refinance Companies

First Republic Student Loans

First Republic is a bank that offers student loan refinancing at very low rates. Founded in 1985, First Republic has branches in a number of different cities in California, plus Portland, Boston, Greenwich, and New York. Its goal in offering low rates on student loan refinancing is, in part, to attract young borrowers as bank customers for life.

The Basics

First Republic has fixed rates that start at just 1.95% and go as high as 2.95% APR. That’s considerably lower than many other popular online or offline lenders. How much you will qualify for will depend on your personal financial and credit situation.

In addition, there are no loan fees related to refinancing student loans from First Republic. You don’t pay anything for origination, prepayment or annual fees.

It offers a number of different flexible term lengths. You can refinance your student loans for 5, 7, 10, or 15 years.

In order to refinance using First Republic, you need to have between $40,000 and $300,000 in student debt. You also need to have a strong credit score and a consistent record of work. Having substantial savings also helps you qualify.

To apply for a First Republic refinance loan, you can use its estimator tool to get a quick idea of your rate so that you can understand which term option will be best for you. After that, a banker will reach out to you and talk about your student loan refinancing options. Then you complete a quick online application and send verification documents. After that, they help set up your account and you get your loan.

The Benefits

The fact that it offers low, fixed interest rates can be incredibly beneficial to borrowers. While many lenders offer very low variable interest rates, those rates could potentially go up if interest rates increase. But fixed-rate loans stay the same over the life of your loan and therefore lock in your savings.

One unique benefit with First Republic loans is that it gives you back the interest that you paid on your loan up to 2 percent of the original balance of the loan if you pay off your loan in full in four years. That means that if you’re planning on repaying your loan aggressively, you could end up paying little to no interest over the life of your loan.

Other benefits include the term length options and the fact that you work closely with a real person to take out your loan.

To Consider

While First Republic offers great benefits and rates on student loan refinancing products, there are a number of conditions borrowers must meet, and there is a high bar when it comes to approving borrowers.

In order to qualify for the low rates, you must open a bank account with First Republic Bank. You need a minimum of $500 to put in your account and your loan payment must come automatically from that account. If you have under $3,500 in your account, you will be charged a monthly fee of $25. That might be a problem for certain borrowers who don’t have that amount available to keep in your account throughout the month. That would lead to an additional $300 annual cost to qualify for a lower interest rate on your loans.

In addition, in order to qualify, applicants have to be located near a brank location. There are branches in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach, San Diego, Portland, Boston, Palm Beach, Greenwich and New York City.

There are high credit score, income, and savings requirements that would likely exclude many borrowers. There is a high student loan maximum of $300,000, but the minimum student loan balance is also quite high. You have to refinance at least $40,000 with them – which is much higher than with other lenders.

Bottom Line

First Republic offers great benefits to those who can qualify for their student loans. Unfortunately, qualifying for their student loans can be quite difficult, and many borrowers might not fit the criteria. But if you have excellent credit, a great job, substantial savings, and you live near one of their branches, refinancing with First Republic could save you a significant amount of money.

More details:

• No Loan Fees
• Fixed Interest Rates: 1.95% – 2.95% APR
• ​Payment terms ranging from 5 to 15 years
• Loan Amounts: $40,000 - $300,000

Purefy Student Loans

Purefy offers student loan refinance options to help borrowers save on their student loan payments. It has been around since 2014, with a mission to be a simple and innovative student loan refinance company. Purefy does not make the loans, but it works with two credit union partners: PenFed and Citizens.

The Basics

With Purefy, you can borrow between $7,500 and $150,000 if your loan is underwritten by PenFed. If your loan is underwritten by Citizens, you can borrow between $10,000 and $90,000 if you have an undergrad degree, up to $225,000 if you have a graduate degree or MBA, and up to $300,000 if you have an MD, DDS, law, veterinary, or pharmacy degree.

Term lengths can be 5, 8, 12, or 15 years – which allows you to choose a loan term length that is right for you. It provides fixed- and variable-rate loans. The fixed-rate APR ranges between 3.50% and 7.28%, while the variable-rate APR is between 3.15% and 6.93%.

The amount that you will pay depends on your credit and finances. With variable rate loans, the amount you pay can go up over the life of your loan, but it's capped at 9% on 5-year and 8-year loans and at 10% on 12-year and 15-year loans.

One of the benefits of Purefy is that it has no prepayment fees, origination fees, or application fees. That means that you can repay your student loan more quickly if you want to save money on interest without penalties.

To qualify, you have to have a degree or, if you dropped out before getting the degree, you have to have at least 12 months of on-time payments on your current loans. You also have to be earning at least $24,000 per year and meet credit requirements.

A cosigner may be used to help you qualify or get a lower interest rate. For example, if your credit score is between 620 and 699, you might need a cosigner on your loan. You can apply for cosigner release after either 12 or 36 consecutive on-time payments, depending on which credit union underwrites your loan.

To start the process with Purefy, you have to answer five questions on a short online application. Then you can review rates and see what your new monthly payment would be. Finally, you select the loan option that works best for you, apply online, and upload your documents. After that, you sign the loan documents online and your loan will be disbursed.

The Benefits

There are a number of great benefits to taking out a Purefy loan. You can borrow up to $300,000, which is a considerable amount. Having no fees also helps reduce your cost of borrowing.

The interest rates start quite low, which means that you can potentially save a significant amount of money on your loan by refinancing with them. Another key benefit is that you can get your cosigner released after as little as 12 on-time payments, something which is pretty rare.

To Consider

Because you’re refinancing your loan with a credit union, you’ll have to apply for membership before you’ll be approved and can take out the loan. That adds a little extra work to the process. In addition, you might be able to save a little more if you refinance directly with a credit union rather than through a company like Purefy.

Bottom Line

Ultimately, Purefy can be a great solution for student loan refinance. It offers great rates, flexible term lengths, and no fees. However, if you don’t have excellent credit or a cosigner, then you might have to look elsewhere.

• Fixed Interest Rates: 3.50% – 7.28% APR
• Variable Interest Rates: 3.15% - 6.93% APR
• Loan Amounts: $7,500 - $300,000

EDvestinU Student Loans

EDvestinU is a private student loan refinance program that is run by a nonprofit called New Hampshire Higher Education Loan Corporation, which is part of the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation and was established in 1962 by the banking community.

Its mission is to help students nationwide go to college and pay off their student loans in an affordable manner. It offers low rates, and the proceeds of the loans are invested into borrower incentives that reduce the cost of borrowing, scholarship programs, and educational programs to encourage New Hampshire students to aspire to attend college.

The Basics

EDvestinU offers competitive student loan refinance options that allow you to borrow between $7,500 and $200,000. It offers both fixed and variable interest rates. Variable-rate APRs start between 3.310% and 6.910%. Fixed-rate loan APRs vary between 4.29% and 7.89%. How much you will pay will depend on your personal financial and credit situation.

It offers flexible repayment terms with term lengths of 5, 10, 15, and 20 years. It also doesn't charge prepayment fees, origination fees, or any other fees. There's a minimum income requirement of $30,000 if you’re refinancing under $100,000, and a $50,000 income requirement if you’re refinancing more than $100,000.

There's a cosigner release option after 36 on-time payments, so long as the borrower’s FICO score is above 699 and their income is over $30,000. You must also have a debt-to-income ratio of 43 percent or less.

In order to apply for an EDvestinU refinance loan, you have to fill out a quick online student loan refinance application. You’ll need information about your employer and income, your lender and servicer name, and two personal references. You’ll also need to send copies of verification documents. How long the process will take depends on how many loans you’re looking to consolidate and how quickly you can get them the verification documents.

The Benefits

EDvestinU offers great low rates on your student loan refinancing. While there are other lenders who might have slightly lower rates, EDvestinU has flexible options like the ability to choose from a variety of term lengths and to choose a variable- or fixed-rate loan. You’ll also be able to release your cosigner if you require one.

In addition, the income levels for qualifying for a loan are comparatively low. Finally, the fact that all the profits from the student loan refinancing go to encourage other students to go to college is a great plus; you can feel like you’re helping someone else every time you make a student loan payment.

To Consider

While EDvestinU offers relatively low interest rates, how much you’ll pay does depend on your personal and credit situation. If you don’t have great credit and you don’t have a cosigner to sign on your behalf, you might not qualify for a loan from them. Although they do offer cosigner release, there are companies that offer cosigner release with fewer conditions and after fewer on-time payments. Also, while their student loan refinancing process is relatively quick, it is not as quick as some other lenders that allow you to refinance in just a few days.

Bottom Line

Ultimately, EDvestinU offers several great features for student loan refinancing. And you’ll be able to feel like you’re doing good by giving your business to an organization that uses your money to help others. While you might be able to get a slightly lower rate elsewhere, the number of options and the fact that there are no fees associated with your loans from EDvestinU are huge bonuses.

• Fixed Interest Rates: 4.29% – 7.89% APR
• Variable Interest Rates: 3.31% - 6.91% APR
• Loan Amounts: $7,500 - $200,000

Education Success Loans

Finding the best student loan consolidation company can be tough. Each lender has its own set of criteria, interest rates, and term lengths. Moreover, each lender brings something unique for borrowers. Cosigner requirements, credit score minimums, and customer service can vary at each lender. At LendEDU we work with only the top student debt financing and student loan consolidation companies.

One company working to help borrowers is Education Success Loans. Read below to learn more about how to refinance student loans and how to consolidate student loans with this lender.

The Basics

If you are a borrower stuck paying high interest rates on old federal and private student debt, Education Success Loans is a great option. The company charges no origination fees, which can help borrowers save money from the beginning.

As far as credit criteria goes, Education Success Loans requires borrowers to have a good credit score and an average debt-to-income. The company has a higher rate of approvals, so you might consider applying even if you may think you are not qualified. Many borrowers have told us that Education Success Loans approved them even with only decent credit. The lender works with each borrower on a case-by-case basis to determine eligibility and approval. Education Success Loans offers a term length of 25 years.

There is no penalty for paying off your debt early, and borrowers can pay as much as they would like each month on top of their minimum monthly payment. The company offers an interest rate discount of 25 basis points (0.25%) if you sign up for AutoPay. AutoPay is easy to set up and convenient for borrowers.

The Benefits

Education Success Loans offers borrowers three great options to refinance and consolidate student loans. Out of all the student loan refinance and student loan consolidation lenders on the market, Education Success Loans is one of the only lenders to offer 25-year term lengths. If you want to lower your monthly payment, you can bet that a 25-year term will do the trick. By spreading your repayment out of 25 years, you can pay much less each month - although it can add to the overall cost of the loan.

Education Success Loans has zero origination fees, which saves you from paying what would be an added cost on the principal of the loan. It also has zero prepayment fees. So if you're concerned about extending your loan out to 25 years, you can choose to pay it off early without penalty.

To Consider

The biggest disadvantage of Education Success is that it has only one 25-year term length available for borrowers. But, you can choose to pay back your funds without a prepayment penalty if you would like. The other disadvantage is that Education Success only offers mixed interest rates. This could be an issue for some borrowers looking to lock in low interest rates today. If you are worried that interest rates will rise in the short term, you should select an option with a fixed interest rate.

Bottom Line

The Education Success college debt refinancing and consolidation program is a great option for people who want:

• To lower their monthly payments
• Zero prepayment penalties
• A longer 25 year term length
• Consolidate federal and private college debt
• Want a personalized customer service experience

Education Success is one of the top lenders for student loan refinancing and consolidation. Here are more details to help you determine if it's the right choice for you:

• Private student loan consolidation for private and federal student debt
• 25 year repayment term
• 1-Year Fixed 4.99% APR then variable rate for the remaining term
• 5-Year Fixed 5.99% APR then variable rate for the remaining term
• 10-Year Fixed 7.99% APR then variable rate for the remaining term
• AutoPay: 0.25% interest rate reduction with automatic payments via ACH
• No origination fees
• ​Must have graduated at least 30 months prior to application date
• ​Have a minimum of $5,000 ($15,001 if in Kentucky) in student debt
• ​Supply acceptable proof of income of at least $24,000 annually
• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and continue to be a permanent resident of DC or any state in the continental United States other than AZ, IA, IL or WI

iHelp Student Loans

iHelp Student Loans is a smaller student loan organization working to help graduates best manage their debt. iHelp recently launched a student loan consolidation service with its lender partners. iHelp matches student debt borrowers with smaller and community banks. Community banks, like credit unions, usually focus in on one particular geographical area. Community banks are eager to help customers manage their student obligations. With iHelp’s undergraduate Loan Consolidation program, more community banks can get into the undergraduate loan market.

Community banks are known to offer some great interest rates and even better customer service. Keep reading below to figure out how to consolidate student loans and how to refinance student loans with iHelp.

The Basics

iHelp offers competitive student debt refinancing and consolidation rates and terms to prospective borrowers. The company has two different rates depending on if you apply with or without a cosigner. If you apply with a cosigner, rates start at 6.00%, or 6.22% APR. If you apply without a cosigner, your starting rate could be 7.00%, or 7.21% APR. All of iHelp’s consolidation rates are fixed rates. Your monthly payment and total cost will not change with iHelp’s student loan consolidation program.

iHelp does charge its borrowers a supplemental fee at the time of disbursement. iHelp charges 2 percent on top of the balance as a fee for processing the new student loan. However, most other lenders these days do not charge disbursement fees.

iHelp only allows borrowers from certain schools to apply to its program to consolidate student debt, but the approved school list is fairly large. The participating schools are in the following states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The reason that iHelp only allows certain schools is that the community bank partners tend to only focus on certain geographical regions.

In order to qualify you must be creditworthy. According to iHelp’s website, creditworthy means:

• Has not had open collections or charge offs in the past 2 years
• Does not have bankruptcies, foreclosures, or repossessions during the past 5 years
• Has not defaulted on a federal or private undergraduate loan
• Meets the minimum credit score
• Has at least 2 years of credit history
• The borrower or cosigner must have an annual income of $24,000 or greater for the past 2 years to qualify for the iHELP Consolidation Fixed Rate Program
• Does not exceed the debt-to-income threshold of 45%

Also, additional credit criteria may apply. iHelp's consolidation loan is administered by the Student Loan Finance Corporation (SLFC) and sponsored by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA). Loans are funded by an iHELP originating lender.

The Benefits

iHelp offers a number of benefits to its student loan consolidation customers.

Our favorite benefit offered by iHelp is its cosigner release benefit. Having a creditworthy cosigner can really help you get approved for the iHelp consolidation program. After 24 month, you have the ability to release your cosigner from the loan. You must have made all 24 monthly payments on time to do this. You must also meet iHelp’s credit requirements in order to qualify for cosigner release. Even so, cosigner release is an awesome benefit to offer.

If you refinance with iHelp, you will have the choice of three different repayment options. Of course, you can just choose the standard repayment, but there are a other options to consider. iHelp offers interest-only payments for 24 months. This is a great option for borrowers looking to temporarily lower their monthly payment. iHelp also offers graduated repayment. This option allows borrowers to make interest-only payments for a set period of time and then gradually, over time, the payment amount increases until the borrower is making the full principal and interest payments.

iHelp even offers forbearance options to borrowers. If you fall into a financial rut, iHelp can help you delay your monthly payments with forbearance.

To Consider

iHelp’s student loan consolidation interest rates tend to be a little high. If you are a highly qualified candidate, you can probably get a lower interest rate from another student loan refinance lender.

Moreover, the supplemental fee charge by iHelp is expensive, at 2 percent of the balance. You need to factor in the costs of this fee when considering iHelp’s interest rates. The APR rate will include the supplemental fee.

Bottom Line

The iHelp Student Loan Consolidation program can be a good option for some borrowers who:

• Want to consolidate college debt
• Are interested in cosigner release
• Want interest-only payment plans
• Want a community bank lender

At LendEDU, we give iHelp a stamp of approval. You can check out its website for more information and to get started. Here are more details to help you figure out if this is the right choice for you.

• Rates start at 6.00%, or 6.22% APR
• 15 year term length
• Only fixed rate options
• Cosigner release is available after 24 months
• Interest-only payments are available for 24 months
• Graduated payments available
• Community bank lenders
• School must be on its accepted school list

Laurel Road

The Basics

• Fixed APR: 3.25% - 7.13% APR
• Variable APR: 2.89% - 7.38% APR
• 5, 7, 10, 15 or 20 Years
• Loan Amounts: $5,000 - No Max
• Eligible Degrees: Undergraduate and Graduate
• Eligible Loan Types: Federal and Private
• Fees: No Fees

Laurel Road offers variable interest rates ranging from 2.89% to 7.38% APR. Alternatively, if you prefer a fixed rate, you can expect to land somewhere between 3.25% and 7.13% APR. These rates include an interest rate discount of 0.25% for signing up for autopay.

Laurel Road offers term lengths of 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20 years. Also, there is no penalty for paying off your loan early.

Laurel Road evaluates each applicant on an individual basis, which might help some applicants who might not qualify through a more traditional underwriting process. Borrowers must have an excellent credit profile and good income to qualify. However, applying with a cosigner can improve your chances of getting approved.

Laurel Road's application is straightforward and easy to complete. Additionally, it doesn't take long and you can find out if you are eligible relatively quickly.

The Benefits

• 0.25% interest rate reduction for setting up AutoPay
• Economic hardship support
• Loan balance discharge if borrower dies or becomes permanently disabled

Laurel Road offers borrowers 10 options to refinance and consolidate student loans - the most compared to the other student loan refinance and consolidation lenders on the market. This can help borrowers find an option that meets their financial objectives.

Laurel Road has zero origination fees and no prepayment penalties. For borrowers who are trying to pay off their debt quickly, the latter feature is especially important.

To Consider

In general, Laurel Road looks for applicants with good credit, very strong income, and low debt-to-income ratios. Having a cosigner can greatly improve your chances of being approved.

Bottom Line

​The Laurel Road student loan refinance and consolidation program could be a great option for people who want to:

• Lower their monthly payment
• Lock in low interest rates
• Choose from a variety of term lengths
• Consolidate federal and private student debt

​Laurel Road is one of the best student loan refinancing lenders. But consider these points to see if it's the right choice for you:

• Refinancing and consolidation for graduate and undergraduate, private and federal college debt
• Must have achieved a bachelor's or graduate degree
• PLUS loans have become a popular option for parents with college students. Laurel Road allows parents of degree holders to get lower interest rates on PLUS loans after the child is working and has received their degree. The parent can choose to apply in their name, or their child's name.
• 3.14% – 7.25% APR fixed rate (with AutoPay)
• 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20 year repayment terms
• Moderate credit score, salary, and debt-to-income requirements
• No origination fees
• No prepayment penalties
• 0.25% interest rate reduction with automatic payments via ACH. The automatic payments are a free service for borrowers.