Refinance Student Loans For Fast Payoff : Top 10 Lenders To Refinance With

Learn about Refinancing and understand how it can help you end your debt faster and check out the Top Refinancing Lenders.

Updated by Vidish S on 28th January 2020

Student Loans have been a nuisance for college grads for a long time now. More than 44 million Americans collectively owe trillions of dollars in student loan debt. There’s a good chance that if you’re reading this article, then you’re one of them.

It would surely feel nice to get rid of this debt hanging over your head and be able to make a few purchases that matter and make you happy. The good news is that there are a few ways to do just that.

Let’s discuss one such means to end your student loan debt early by using refinancing to pay off your student loans earlier than you normally would.

Table of contents

Understand Refinancing before we delve deeper

Refinancing enables you to get a good deal on interest making installment less demanding and reasonable. By removing a couple of rates you can spare some cash in reimbursement and in the time span of obligation reimbursement.  

Refinancing is a good step to help make your debt more manageable but it isn’t for everyone. 

There is nothing fun about paying back student loans except when you save some money. This can be done by managing your debt the right way, so if you have a number of loans to manage it well would be to consolidate the loans into a single loan with a lower interest rate. With this, you have to just make a single payment each month so it is much easier to track.

Some factors to consider if you are ready to refinance :

  1. Credit score - With a credit score of high 600s or more you can easily qualify for a loan. There are a number of online sites where you can check your credit score. If you have a low credit score you can work towards improving the score.

  2. Maintain a low debt to income ratio - The best way to do this is to make more money than you spend. When we say debt we refer to not just your student loan debt but the debt on your credit card, car loans, mortgage and much more.

Situations when you should refinance your student loans 

Here are a list of situations where if you find yourself in you should go ahead and consider refinancing 

  • When you get a stable income and good credit - if you have a good credit score then you can qualify for a lower interest rate. The sooner you take up refinancing the more you can potentially save more. You can also pay off the loan quicker with a lower interest rate. 

  • You won’t be able to refinance right after you graduate because of the fact that not everyone can land a stable job right after graduation. 

  • Loans with high-interest rates - refinancing sooner will help you save money on interest if you qualify for a lower interest rate. Federal loans no longer have variable interest rates unless you have taken up a loan before 2006. Refinancing can help you get a new loan with a fixed interest rate this will safeguard you from the increased rates of interest. 

  • Multiple loans that are expensive - If you have loans that are worth lesser than $10,000 then it isn’t considered to be expensive. Increase the length of your payment period so you can lesser payments but for a longer period of time. 

  • You are done with your grace period - After you are done with your undergraduate degree you will get 6 months where you don’t have to make any payments. Post these 6 months you will have to begin your repayment journey. This is referred to as grace period, use these 6 months to pick the right lender to refinance with. 

  • The grace period is also used by graduates to find a job. Most student loan borrowers take on extra loans so avoiding any payments from previous loans will always be helpful.

You’re a good candidate for refinancing if you have a credit score in the upper 600s, a solid income and a history of on-time debt payments. If you’re using federal loan benefits like income-driven repayment, refinancing may not be for you.


Looking to secure a loan for your studies? Check out the Best Student Loans!


Top Lenders to Refinance with for paying off your Student Loans as fast as possible

Refinancing replaces multiple student loans with a single private loan at a lower interest rate. You can choose a new loan term that’s shorter than the one you originally received. That may increase your monthly payment, but it will help you pay the debt faster and save money on interest. You’ll also have just one bill to pay, rather than multiple. Check out these lenders to decide which one is best for you.

LENDER

FIXED APR

VARIABLE APR

CREDIT SCORE

PenFed Student Loan Refinance

3.48 - 6.03%

2.32 - 7.06%

670

SoFi Student Loan Refinance

3.20 - 6.48%

2.31 - 6.48%

Not Disclosed

College Ave Student Loan Refinance

3.24 - 7.99%

2.49 - 7.24%

Upper 600s

CommonBond Student Loan Refinance

3.21 - 6.45%

1.81 - 6.29%

660

Earnest Student Loan Refinance

3.20 - 6.99%

1.99 - 6.89%

650

RISLA Student Loan Refinance

3.49 - 8.14%

N/A

680

First Republic Student Loan Refinance

1.95 - 4.20%

N/A

Not Disclosed

LendKey Student Loan Refinance

3.39-7.75%

1.90-8.59%

680

Advantage Education Loan Refinance

4.54%+

N/A

670

Brazos Student Loan Refinance

3.91%+

4.01%+

690


Final Thoughts

It’s easy to talk about paying off your student loans faster, but actually doing it is can get tedious. Once you decide which loan refinancing option makes sense for your financial situation, put a plan in place that includes regular check-ins to keep you on track.

While you might have to make some short-term sacrifices in order to pay off your student debt faster, you’ll reap the benefits once you become loan-free, and will be happy that you put some extra effort and money towards paying your loans off early. Interested in learning more about these refinancing lenders and what they have to offer? Turn to Best Companies to Refinance Your Student Loans to find out more.