Owing money for your education always feels burdensome, no matter what you owe.
But when student debt tops six figures, the stress is even greater. Your debt payments might eat up a significant part of your paycheck and your debt balance might interfere with other life goals.
While only 5% of borrowers owe $100,000 or more in student loan debt, borrowers with these balances account for about 30% of total outstanding student loan debt, as reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
If you’re one of them, refinancing your student loans could help you reduce your interest rate, get better repayment terms, and lower your total repayment cost.
There are lots of good options for refinancing your student loan debt, including these five lenders that allow you to refinance loans of $100,000 or more:
Should you refinance student loan debt if you owe a lot?
Refinancing your student loan debt means taking out a new loan to pay off old student loans. The goal is to find a new loan with better terms, such as a lower interest rate, to save money on repayment.
You can refinance federal or private student loans, but there are potential downsides to refinancing federal student debt. For example, you will no longer be eligible for federal student loan perks, including income-driven repayment options or Public Service Loan Forgiveness, after you refinance.
Refinancing private student loans is often an easier choice because those loans don’t have the same borrower protections as federal loans.
If you won’t be using federal borrower protection programs and can qualify for a new loan with a lower interest rate, you could save serious money by refinancing a big student loan balance.
Say you owe $100,000 with an average interest rate of 6.00% and have 10 years left to repay your loans. If you refinance to a new loan with an interest rate of 3.25%, you would save $15,962 in interest and decrease your monthly payment from $1,110 to $977.
Want to see how much you could save? Our student loan refinancing calculator can help.
Best lenders to refinance a lot of student loan debt
If you’ve decided refinancing makes sense for you, check out these five lenders that refinance large student loan balances.
These lenders allow you to check your personalized rate without affecting your credit score, so you can comparison shop and find the best loan for your specific situation.
1. SoFi
- Fixed interest rates from 3.40% to 7.75%
- Variable interest rates from 2.63% to 7.70%
- Refinance with no maximum
- Combine undergraduate and graduate loans
- Refinance federal and private loans
- Repay loan in five to 20 years
- Reduce interest rate with automatic payments
- Pay no origination fees or prepayment penalties
2. Earnest
- Fixed interest rates from 3.25% to 6.32%
- Variable interest rates from 2.57% to 5.87%
- Refinance up to $500,000 (loans serviced by Sallie Mae are ineligible)
- Combine undergraduate and graduate loans
- Refinance federal and private loans
- Repay loan in five to 20 years
- Reduce interest rate with automatic payments
- Pay no origination fees or prepayment penalties
3. Laurel Road
- Fixed interest rates from 3.37% to 7.02%
- Variable interest rates from 2.80% to 5.90%
- Refinance with no maximum
- Combine undergraduate and graduate loans
- Refinance federal and private loans
- Repay loan in five to 20 years
- Reduce interest rate with automatic payments
- Pay no origination fees or prepayment penalties
4. LendKey
- Fixed interest rates from 3.15% to 8.79%
- Variable interest rates from 2.68% to 8.06%
- Refinance with a community bank or credit union
- Refinance up to $125,000 in undergraduate debt or $250,000 in graduate debt
- Refinance federal and private loans
- Repay loan in five to 20 years
- Reduce interest rate with automatic payments
- Pay no origination fees or prepayment penalties
5. CommonBond
- Fixed interest rates from 3.20% to 6.65%
- Variable interest rates from 2.57% to 6.65%
- Refinance up to $500,000
- Combine undergraduate and graduate loans
- Refinance federal and private loans
- Repay loan in five to 20 years
- Reduce interest rate with automatic payments
- Pay no origination fees or prepayment penalties
Refinancing is a big decision when you owe a lot in student loans
When you owe a lot of money in student loans, the stakes are higher when choosing a payback plan.
Income-driven repayment options could spare you from large monthly payments, so you shouldn’t give up this borrower protection lightly. Still, the amount of savings you could achieve by refinancing and reducing your interest rate is greater when you owe a large amount.
Think about whether the trade-off in losing federal loan protections is worth benefiting from lower rates.
If you decide to refinance, shop around for a lender offering the most favorable terms possible. You can also check out tips for repaying student loan balances of $100,000 or more and see how others paid off six-figure balances to inspire you on your own debt repayment journey.
Interested in refinancing student loans?
Here are the top 6 lenders of 2018!| Lender | Rates (APR) | Eligible Degrees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get real rates from up to 4 Lenders at once Check out the testimonials and our in-depth reviews! |
|||
 | 2.63% – 7.75% | Undergrad & Graduate | Visit SoFi |
 | 2.57% – 6.32% | Undergrad & Graduate | Visit Earnest |
 | 2.80% – 7.02% | Undergrad & Graduate | Visit Laurel Road |
 | 2.68% – 8.79% | Undergrad & Graduate | Visit Lendkey |
 | 2.57% – 6.65% | Undergrad & Graduate | Visit CommonBond |
 | 2.62% – 8.69% | Undergrad & Graduate | Visit Citizens |