September 23, 2023

Which Companies Offer The Best Student Loan Refinancing?

Are You Searching For Student Loan Refinancing Solutions? Refinancing student loans can be an excellent debt management move. Refinancing can reduce interest rates, monthly payments and payoff times by working with private lenders to obtain loans to cover your existing debts.

Best Student Loan Refinancing Company

1) College Ave

College Ave is a Wilmington, Delaware-based online student loan provider focused solely on helping students and parents manage the rising costs associated with higher education in order to increase access.

College Ave offers Multi-Year Peace of MindTM when lending money. Due to this benefit, 9 out of 10 undergraduate borrowers who apply with cosigners are accepted for further loans in future years.

College Ave. offers more than just basic loan service: it also enables you to set your payback period and explains how different terms and plans affect overall loan costs.

2) Sallie Mae

Sallie Mae is one of the premier providers of student loans. Originally founded as a government organization responsible for servicing federal student loans, they transitioned into becoming fully privatized bank between 1997 and 2004 and started dispensing private student loans as well.

Sallie Mae currently commands the largest market share for private student loans. Furthermore, they have expanded their product offering with savings accounts, credit cards, and more.

Sallie Mae offers its borrowers multiple advantages when borrowing through Multi-Year Advantage: no origination or application costs; Multi-Year Advantage; four months of free Chegg(r) study assistance and four months’ loan approval rates of 95%3. Returning undergraduate students using this program with cosigners enjoy a 95% approval rate on subsequent loans3.

3) Earnest

Earnest is an online lender based in San Francisco, California established with the purpose of facilitating affordable access to higher education for everyone.

Earnest loans stand out as being cost-free because there are no application or origination fees associated with them; many other lenders advertise them without application fees and origination costs, but this only applies for student loans; with Earnest, there are no application fees or penalties associated with early or late repayment of loans.

Earnest does not charge fees and offers an extended grace period than is typical in the industry, along with the option to miss payments up to once annually.

4) Ascent

Ascent is an online student loan provider based out of California that stands out by offering three distinct loan types for its program – co-signed loans, non-cosigned credit-based loans and future income-based loans are just some of the options available to Ascent’s students.

Ascent offers several deferment and forbearance options that will satisfy borrowers seeking repayment protection, such as in-school deferral, residency or internship deferment and active-duty military deferment for its student loans.

Loans offer temporary hardship forbearance, administrative forbearance, and forbearance in case of emergency or natural disaster – each option will extend the repayment period.

5) SoFi

SoFi, located in San Francisco, California is an online personal finance company that prioritizes mobile devices as a primary mode of interaction. After becoming the first company to refinance both federal and private student loans simultaneously in 2012, SoFi gained notoriety among consumers across most consumer lending markets, amassing over $50 billion worth of loans through funding loans of this nature.

SoFi membership provides many attractive advantages that stand out to borrowers, from financial and social benefits to professional advancement opportunities and professional networking services.

Advice from qualified advisors on financial planning, referral bonuses and member rate discounts are among the many financial advantages. Participating in meals, happy hours and networking gatherings also bring community advantages; personalized career guidance tools as well as an unemployment insurance program are included among career advantages.

Bottom Line

For this research project, national banks, credit unions and lenders that specialize in private student loans for undergraduates were selected for evaluation. APR ranges, fees, repayment plans, hardship options as well as any features or advantages were all taken into consideration in evaluating each lender.