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Student Loan Refinance & Consolidation Companies for 2019

Updated: 4/1/19

Learn how you can save on your student loans through refinancing.

Today, graduates are leaving campus holding a diploma in one hand and an average of $17,000 in debt in the other. In America, student debt is the second largest form of consumer debt. Unfortunately, our nation’s education system, politicians, and students haven’t figured out a solution.

In short, when you refinance student loans, your new lender will pay off your old loans and issue you a new one. Your new loan typically has a lower interest rate, saving you money, or a lower monthly payment, making repayment more manageable.

We’ve created this guide to help borrowers better understand the emerging student loan refinancing and consolidation industry.

Compare Student Loan Refinancing Lenders – Rates, Terms, & Amounts

Eligibility Requirements for Student Loan Refinancing

This section is used to describe eligibility requirements. You can see some of the common requirements below as well as each lender’s specific requirements. This will help you narrow down your search to only those who you are eligible for.

A Good Credit Score

In order to refinancing your student loans, you will usually need an excellent credit score.

History of On-Time Payments

Lenders like to see a history of on-time payments before deciding to lend to you.

Consistent Income

Borrowers with consistent income are more likely to be more successful in repayment.

Low Debt-to-Income Ratio

A low debt-to-income ratio means that you are more likely to be able to afford your payments.

$25,000 (w/ cosigner) , $42,000 (w/ no cosigner)

Discounts & Fees for Student Loan Refinancing

Each lender has different discounts and fees. Be sure to see what each lender offers before moving forward with one.

Autopay Discount

Most lenders offer borrowers a interest rate discount for setting up automatic payments.

Soft Credit Check

In order to refinancing your student loans, you will need a credit score of at least

Common Fees

Some lenders charge origination, application, or prepayment fees to borrowers.

Unemployment Protection

Some lenders will allow borrowers to defer payments if they become unemployed.

Are Fees Charged?

Soft Credit Check?

How to Decide If You Should Refinance Student Loans

It Might Make Sense If.

Your student loan interest rates are 4% or higher

If your student loans currently have interest rates over 4%, you may be able to save by refinancing.

You have a great credit score and consistent income

Borrowers with great credit and consistent income are the most likely to be successful in repayment.

You want to pay off your student loans faster & can afford higher monthly payments

When you refinance, you can shorten your repayment term and pay off your student loans faster.

It Might Not Make Sense If.

You are depending on an income-driven repayment plan

When you refinance you will lose access to federal income-driven repayment plans.

You are planning on receiving student loan forgiveness

Only federal student loan borrowers may be eligible for forgiveness through the government.

Your credit score is not great or you have inconsistent income

Lenders most likely won’t approve you if they believe you may have trouble with repayment.

Full Student Loan Refinancing Lender Reviews for 2019

We would like to present unbiased descriptions of various student loan consolidation companies. Please note, from here on out, we consider “consolidation” and “refinancing” the same thing. When you refinance with any of the following lenders, you will also have the option to combine all of your student loans into one.

All of these companies have been vetted by The Student Loan Report team for product quality, security, and customer experience. For more information about any one of these student loan refinancing lenders, look for the link to our full review and analysis of the companies.

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Variable Rates

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Citizens Bank Full Review

Though Citizens Bank isn’t the largest bank in the nation, you may notice that it is one of the only consolidation companies with actual branches! In fact, the company has over 1,000 branches and $130 billion in assets.

Through the company’s education finance division, Citizens Bank created the Education Refinance Loan. The Education Refinance Loan was created to help students and graduates better manage their student loan payments.

Rates & Terms

Citizens Bank offers both variable and fixed interest rate products to those looking to refinance student loans. Variable rates start at 3.00% and fixed rates start at 3.89%. You can choose a new term length of 5, 10, 15, or 20 years². Both federal and private loans are eligible for refinancing and consolidation through Citizens Bank. And the company even offers an interest rate discount if you choose to make your payments via auto-pay, as reflected in the rates above.

As you would guess, Citizens Bank charges no application origination, disbursement, or pre-payment fees. For example, you would not be charged any fees for making extra principal payments each month.

One benefit that Citizens has that not every lender can claim is 24/7 customer service. Whether you are applying in the middle of the day or at 3 a.m., someone is there to help.

Finally, Citizens offers tons of educational resources on its website, including calculators for college savings and refinancing.

Eligibility Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen, or permanent resident alien, to qualify for consolidation through Citizens Bank. Furthermore, you must have at least $10,000 in debt to refinance and you must have made at least 3 on-time monthly payments post-graduation. Citizens Bank only allows refinancing of debt up to $90,000 for bachelor’s degrees, $350,000 for graduate degrees (including MBAs).

Citizens Bank is one of the only companies that does not require you to have graduated in order to refinance. If you have not yet earned a bachelor’s degree, you can still qualify but you must have made at least 12 on-time monthly payments before applying. On-time payments are payments including both interest and principal.

Application Process

In order to apply for refinancing with Citizens Bank, you will need to complete the quick application on the company’s site. For the application, make sure you have proof of citizenship, proof of income, billings statements for your student loans, and proof of employment and housing payments.

This can all be done online and is a relatively straightforward and simple process, especially if you have all of the documentation nearby and ready to go. If you ever get stuck, there is even a chat box to speak with customer service right from your computer!

To read our full review of Citizens Bank click here.

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LendKey Full Review

LendKey is a refinancing option for student loan borrowers. LendKey works to match borrowers with not-for-profit credit unions offering educational debt refinancing and consolidation.

LendKey currently works with over 300 credit unions which means the that you can be matched with at least one lender, no matter where you live. Since inception, LendKey has helped over 40,000 borrowers find lower rates through refinancing. In 2015, LendKey expanded its products offerings dramatically.

Rates & Terms

Today, LendKey offers both fixed and variable rates with term lengths ranging from 5 to 20 years. Variable rates start at 2.67% while fixed rates start at 3.49%. Additionally, borrowers approved for refinancing can choose from a repayment term of 5, 10, 15, and 20 years. These are some of the lowest student loan refinance rates of all the lenders!

There are zero application, origination, disbursement, or pre-payment fees. LendKey even offers borrowers cosigner release as a benefit after 24 months of on-time principal and interest payments. For more information about LendKey’s cosigner release benefit, please read our full review.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility requirements vary based on the credit union that you are matched with. All borrowers who are considered are U.S. citizens. Also, the minimum amount to refinance is $7,500 while the maximum is $175,000. LendKey typically looks for a minimum credit score of 660 and an annual income of $24,000. The higher your credit score and income, however, the higher your chance of approval will be.

Application Process

LendKey has really improved its technology over the last 2 years. Today, the company’s application process is very easy and the interface is friendly. From end to end, most borrowers should expect the refinancing and consolidation process to be completed in about 4 to 8 weeks. During the application process you will be required to provide evidence of a driver’s license, proof of graduation, and pay stubs that verify your income.

To read our full review of LendKey click here.

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Variable Rates

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CommonBond Full Review

CommonBond has been a player in the private consolidation market for a few years now. Like SoFi, CommonBond was founded by students looking to make student loans better. CommonBond was started by 3 Wharton MBA students in 2011 as project to tackle the student loan problem in the United States. Since 2011, the company has come a very long way.

Rates & Terms

CommonBond offers rates as low as 2.54% for variable interest, 3.67% for fixed interest, and 4.38% for hybrid interest. CommonBond is on the short list of lenders who allow parents to refinance PLUS loans. CommonBond does not charge any application, origination, disbursement, or pre-payment fees. In addition, the company will pause your payments if you lose your job.

Eligibility Requirements

Initially, CommonBond very particular about who was eligible. At first, CommonBond only accepted students from select top schools and degree programs. But over the last year, CommonBond has dramatically expanded its eligible school and degree list. Today, most applicants will be eligible to apply to CommonBond.

To read our full review of CommonBond click here.

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SoFi Full Review

Since a group of Stanford Business students founded the company in 2011, and it is now one of the most popular companies in the industry.

Rates & Terms

As of this writing, SoFi currently offers refinancing rates as low as 2.54% for variable rates and 3.90% for fixed rates. The rates cap out at 7.28% and 8.02%, respectively. These are some of the lowest student loan refinance rates in the industry. Members can choose from variable and fixed rates with term lengths of 5, 10, 15, and 20 years. The above rates are all assuming you sign up for auto-pay. Without auto-pay, the rates would be 0.25% higher.

By becoming a SoFi member, which is completely free, you will get access to extra benefits including unemployment protection, career support, interview coaching, and resume review. If you are interested in becoming an entrepreneur, SoFi will support you through its entrepreneurial program. Entrepreneurial program benefits include delayed payments and mentorship from successful entrepreneurs. In addition, SoFi charges no application, origination, or prepayment fees. Finally, SoFi has a great customer support team ready to help you with any problems that may arise!

Eligibility Requirements

SoFi is relatively strict in its requirements. SoFi only accepts people who have graduated, have good jobs, and have solid income. Typically, SoFi borrowers also have a great credit history and enough income to cover monthly expenses as well as student loan payments.

SoFi’s minimum amount of student loan debt to refinance is $5,000.

Note: Students in Nevada are not eligible for refinancing.

Application Process

If you are planning to submit an application, block off at least 20 minutes of time to complete it. After you’ve been pre-approved online, you will be asked to select your new loan options. Then, you will be required to upload supporting documents so that SoFi can verify your income and education.

To read our full review of SoFi click here.

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ELFi Full Review

ELFI was launched by SouthEast Bank in November of 2015 and now provides competitive a refinancing product for borrowers. SouthEast Bank has a long history in the student loan industry. Throughout the company’s history, it has helped over one million families secure financing for higher education. Going back to its roots, SouthEast Bank decided that a refinancing and consolidation product that was available to a broader market could help many of its student loan borrowers payoff their debt.

Rates & Terms

ELFI’s refinancing products are very competitive. The company offers variable rates as low as 2.55% and fixed rates as low as 3.09%. At this time, ELFI offers 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20-year term length options. So, if you are looking for a 25-year term length you will need to look elsewhere. You can refinance from $15,000 and up with ELFI, assuming you meet the credit requirements.

There are many benefits to using ELFI to refinance your student loans. The first benefit is that the company’s loans are accessible to more borrowers since the minimum qualifications for applicants are quite reasonable. Your credit score must be at least 680, but you only have to be making $35,000 per year. That income requirement is lower than a lot of other student loan refinance companies who tend to focus on refinancing the loans of high income professionals.

Another way ELFI is different is that it refinances student loans that parents took out for their children. That’s rare to find since most online refinance companies focus on student loans a borrower took out for their own education. Many parents take out Parent Plus federal student loans, but the interest rates can be quite high (over the past several years, they have been around 6% to 7%) and they could potentially save a significant amount of money by refinancing with a lender like ELFI that offers very low rates.

Another benefit of ELFI is that it provides loans in all 50 states. Since many online student loan refinance companies only offer refinancing in a limited number of states, this also expands the pool of potential borrowers who could benefit from ELFI loans.

ELFI’s very low interest rates also mean that you’re more likely to save a significant amount of money by refinancing your student loans with the lender. ELFI even has a cap on how much its variable rates can increase – it will only raise them every three months and it promises that the rate will never exceed 9.95%. On top of all these great benefits, ELFI does not charge application, origination, or pre-payment fees.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to refinance your student loans with ELFI, you have to have a credit score of 680 or above and an income of at least $35,000. You also have to have a Bachelor’s degree from an approved school. If you took out student loans but didn’t graduate, then you won’t be able to use ELFI as a student loan refinance provider. You can also refinance your student loans if you’re a parent who took out loans for your child’s education. ELFI’s student loans refinance options start at $15,000 – so you also have to be refinancing at least that amount.

Application Process

Applying to refinance your student loan with ELFI is a relatively simple process. You start by creating a simple profile online where you tell ELFI some information about yourself. ELFI then will ask that you submit some other information about your financial situation and your student loans in order to see if it can pre-approve you.

If you’re pre-approved via a soft credit pull, ELFI will estimate the rates and terms it can offer you and you have to send some documents to finalize the loan. Once all your documents have been verified, ELFI will do a hard credit pull and send you a firm loan offer with an interest rate and term offer. You can then choose between fixed or variable interest rates, sign the loan agreement electronically, and set up auto-payments in order to begin repaying the loan. Repayments start 30 to 45 days after disbursement.

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SOURCE: http://studentloans.net/refinance-student-loans/

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