If you have student loan debt, refinancing your student loans can come with several benefits. You can lock in a lower interest rate, lower your monthly payments, or take advantage of a flexible repayment plan. You may also release a cosigner, switch to a lender with better service, or consolidate multiple loans into one.
While federal student loan payments have been paused since March 2020, payments will resume beginning in October 2023. In addition, the Supreme Court recently struck down the Biden administration’s forgiveness plan, which would have offered up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness for borrowers.
With these developments, review your refinancing options and see if it makes sense for you.
The best student loan refinance companies generally offer lower interest rates, various loan terms, broad eligibility requirements, and several other benefits. If you want to refinance your student loans, here are 13 lenders to consider.
The following 10 lenders are Credible partners.
Brazos Higher Education is a nonprofit lender specializing in student loan refinancing to Texas residents with competitive rates and flexible terms.
Minimum credit score: 690
Terms: Five, seven, 10, 15 and 20 years
APR: Fixed and variable
Maximum loan amount: $400,000 (depending on degree)
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Citizens Bank offers private student loans and student loan refinancing to students and parents nationwide.
Minimum credit score: Not disclosed
Terms: Five, seven, 10, 15 and 20 years
APR: Fixed and variable
Maximum loan amount: $750,000 (depending on degree and loan type)
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College Ave is a fintech lender that offers both private student loans and student loan refinancing.
Minimum credit score: Not disclosed
Terms: Five to 20 years
APR: Fixed and variable
Maximum loan amount: $300,000 (depending on degree type)
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Nonprofit EDvestinU is part of the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation (NHHEAF) Network and offers affordable rates for refinance loans. Borrowers can refinance federal and private loans, and fixed and variable-rate loans are available.
Minimum credit score: Not disclosed
Terms: 5, 10, 15 or 20 years
APR: Fixed or variable
Maximum loan amount: $200,000
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Offered by Tennessee-based SouthEast Bank, Education Loan Finance (ELFI) is a student loan refinancing program for college graduates and parents nationwide.
Minimum credit score: 680
Terms: Five, seven, 10, 15 and 20 years for student loans; five, seven and 10 years for parent loans
APR: Fixed and variable
Maximum loan amount: No maximum
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INvestEd is an Indiana nonprofit that offers private student loans to students attending universities within the state and refinances student loans for borrowers all over the country.
Minimum credit score: 670
Terms: Five, 10, 15 and 20 years
APR: Fixed and variable
Maximum loan amount: $250,000
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ISL Education Lending is a nonprofit that offers student loan refinancing for both students and parents.
Minimum credit score: 670
Terms: Five, seven, 10, 12, 15 and 20 years
APR: Fixed
Maximum loan amount: $320,000 for students still in school
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The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) is a not-for-profit lender that provides student loans and student loan refinancing to borrowers nationwide.
Minimum credit score: 670
Terms: Seven, 10 or 15 years
APR: Fixed and variable
Maximum loan amount: $10,000 up to the total amount of qualified education debt
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While Nelnet has been a long-time servicer of federal student loans, Nelnet Bank was founded in 2020 as the company's private student lending arm.
Minimum credit score: Not disclosed
Terms: 5, 7, 10, 15 or 20 years
APR: Fixed or variable
Maximum loan amount: $125,000 for undergraduate degrees, $175,00 for graduate, law or doctorate degrees and $500,000 for health professional degrees
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The Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA) focuses on refinancing in the form of income-based repayment to borrowers in all 50 states.
Minimum credit score: 680
Terms: Five, 10 and 15 years
APR: Fixed
Maximum loan amount: $250,000 (depending on highest degree earned)
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Compare private student loan rates from various lenders using Credible.
The following lenders are not Credible partners, so you won’t be able to easily compare your rates with them on the Credible platform. But they may also be worth considering if you’re looking to refinance your student loans.
Founded in 2013, Earnest is an online lender that offers private student loans and student loan refinancing to graduates.
Minimum credit score: 650
Terms: Five to 20 years
APR: Fixed and variable
Maximum loan amount: $500,000
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Laurel Road is a part of KeyBank and offers refinancing for undergraduate, graduate and some associate’s degrees.
Minimum credit score: Not disclosed
Terms: Five, seven, 10, 15 and 20 years
APR: Fixed and variable
Maximum loan amount: $50,000
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SoFi is known as the first lender to offer refinancing for federal and private loans together.
Minimum credit score: Not disclosed
Terms: Five, seven, 10, 15 and 20 years
APR: Fixed and variable
Maximum loan amount: $5,000 up to the full balance of your qualified education loans
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Credible looked at a number of factors to determine the best companies for refinancing student loans, including minimum fixed and variable interest rates, whether or not both types of rates are offered, loan terms, repayment options and fees. Other factors considered include discounts, customer experience, cosigner release, maximum undergraduate balance and maximum graduate balance.
If you have multiple federal student loans, you can consolidate them into a federal Direct Consolidation Loan. Your interest rate will be the average of all your loans combined, so you might not necessarily get a lower rate. The only way to refinance federal loans is through a private lender. But think carefully before you do: You’ll no longer have access to federal benefits, like income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. You may also miss out on any future relief programs.
Yes — there’s no limit to how many times you can refinance your student loans. While many people only refinance once, some refinance multiple times to save as much money as possible on their student loan debt. Just be aware that refinancing and extending the repayment term means you’ll likely end up paying more in interest over the life of your loans.
If you intend to refinance your student loans, it’s a good idea to wait until you have good credit and a stable income. This can increase your chances of landing a low rate that saves you the most money. You may also want to consider refinancing if rates are lower than usual or you only have private student loans because you won’t have to worry about losing any federal protections.
From 2006 through 2021, average federal student loan interest rates were 4.66% for undergraduates, 6.22% for graduate students and 7.27% for parents and graduate students taking out Direct PLUS Loans.
Refinancing your student loans shouldn’t impact your credit too much. While a hard credit check may temporarily bring down your score, it’ll only be by a few points. If you submit several refinancing applications in a short time period, however, your credit score may take a bigger hit.
The greatest disadvantage of refinancing your federal student loans through a private student loan lender is giving up your federal protections, like income-driven repayment plans. Another drawback is that refinancing often requires a good credit score and stable income.
You typically won't have to pay any money upfront to refinance your student loans. Depending on the lender you choose, you may be on the hook for late fees, prepayment penalties and other fees, though.
Every lender has its own credit score requirements. But in most cases, you’ll need a fairly high credit score to refinance your student loans. If your credit is on the low side, you may want to work to boost your score before you apply to refinance.
If you’re ready to refinance your student loans, use Credible to compare private student loan rates.
