Refinance Student Loan rates starting at 2.49% APR
 | 2.49% to 11.72% 1VARIABLE APR | |
 | 2.50% to 6.30% 2VARIABLE APR | |
 | 4.13% to 7.39% 3VARIABLE APR |
- Variable APR
One of the special benefits of a federal student loan over a private loan is that you can adjust your payments or term by switching to an income-driven repayment plan. One common — and tricky — choice involves deciding whether to join the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) plan or its successor, Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE). Fortunately, we’ve done all the homework on PAYE versus REPAYE so you can make a choice more easily.
- PAYE vs. REPAYE: How are they similar?
- What’s unique about PAYE?
- What’s unique about REPAYE?
- PAYE vs. REPAYE: Which is right for you?
- Another way to lower your monthly payment: Student loan refinancing
PAYE vs. REPAYE: How are they similar?
PAYE and REPAYE are both income-driven repayment plans, meaning that they adjust your monthly payment based on changes you report annually about your income and family size.
While earning a raise at work might increase your monthly payment, for example, having a baby would decrease it.
In fact, your payment on one of these plans is calculated as a percentage of your discretionary income — that is, the amount of cash you have left after accounting for taxes and other routine expenses such as rent.
Both PAYE and REPAYE max out your monthly payment at 10% of your discretionary income.
Same loans are eligible.
The same four types of federal loans are eligible for both PAYE and REPAYE:
- Direct Subsidized Loans
- Direct Unsubsidized Loans
- Direct PLUS Loans made to students
- Direct Consolidation Loans (not including PLUS Loans made to parents)
Same repayment terms.
PAYE and REPAYE both span 20 years if you borrowed your loans for undergraduate study. After two decades of making timely payments, your remaining balance would be forgiven under both of these plans.
You could cut down that time frame to 10 years if you also qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness by working at a nonprofit, for example.
Keep in mind that with these longer repayment terms, more interest will accrue on your loan amount. You’ll also likely be stuck paying income tax imposed on any forgiven amount.
What’s unique about PAYE?
Although PAYE would cap your monthly payment at 10% of your discretionary income, that amount must also be less than what you’d pay under the Standard Repayment Plan.
Say your monthly payment under your standard plan is $300 but your monthly payment under PAYE would be $350. You wouldn’t benefit from the break of the repayment plan and thus would be ineligible for PAYE.
There’s one more unique eligibility rule for PAYE: It’s only for those who borrowed for the first time on or after Oct. 1, 2007, and received a Direct Loan on or after Oct. 1, 2011.
What’s unique about REPAYE?
Unlike with PAYE, your monthly payment under REPAYE can be more than what you shell out through the Standard Repayment Plan. So if your REPAYE monthly dues are $50 more than your original plan payment, for example, you’d still be eligible for REPAYE.
Still, most borrowers who access REPAYE end up paying significantly more over 20 years than they would over 10 years under the Standard Repayment Plan. Blame accruing interest for that fact.
With REPAYE, your loan term could extend to 25 years if you borrowed federal loans for graduate or professional school.
PAYE vs. REPAYE: Which is right for you?
If your debt is starting to dwarf your income and you’re seeking the lowest possible monthly payment, PAYE is likely your best option. It’ll cap your monthly payments at 10%, never asking you to pay more than what you’d owe via a Standard Repayment Plan.
But perhaps you like the idea of tying your loan payments to a proportion of your income (or adjusting it for your increasing family size) — and want to pay down your debt more promptly. In that case, you might opt for REPAYE.
Since REPAYE allows you to pay more each month than under the Standard Repayment Plan, you could zero out your debt more quickly than if you went the PAYE route.
Before choosing PAYE or REPAYE, calculate your potential payment amount for each plan using Federal Student Aid’s repayment estimator.
Also consider the long term, including your career trajectory, family plans and financial goals. If they shift over time, you could always switch your repayment plan again.
Another way to lower your monthly payment: Student loan refinancing
Before contacting your federal loan servicer about how to apply for income-driven repayment, consider one more option.
Like income-driven repayment, student loan refinancing could allow you to lower your monthly payment, either by extending your repayment term or lowering your interest rate. To qualify, you typically need to have a strong credit history and debt-to-income ratio.
Refinancing also comes with benefits similarly offered by federal student loan consolidation. You could trade in all your loans for one new loan, and you’d receive the convenience of making one monthly payment to one lender. The key difference from the programs above, however, is that you can also refinance private student loans, not just federal loans.
Just remember that once you go private, you can’t go back. For one, you’d lose that important ability to switch repayment plans — say, between PAYE and REPAYE.
But if you have strong credit or owe private student loans, it’s worth checking what refinance offers are available besides PAYE, REPAYE and other federal programs.
Rebecca Safier contributed to this report.
Interested in refinancing student loans?
Here are the top 9 lenders of 2022!| Lender | Variable APR | Eligible Degrees | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 2.49% – 11.72%1 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 2.50% – 6.30%2 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 4.13% – 7.39%3 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 2.49% – 7.99%4 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 2.49% – 7.99%5 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 3.24% – 8.24%6 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 2.48% – 7.98% | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 1.74% – 7.99%7 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | 3.69% – 9.92%8 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
| Check out the testimonials and our in-depth reviews! 1 Important Disclosures for Splash Financial. Splash Financial DisclosuresTerms and Conditions apply. Splash reserves the right to modify or discontinue products and benefits at any time without notice. Rates and terms are also subject to change at any time without notice. Offers are subject to credit approval. To qualify, a borrower must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident in an eligible state and meet applicable underwriting requirements. Not all borrowers receive the lowest rate. Lowest rates are reserved for the highest qualified borrowers. If approved, your actual rate will be within a range of rates and will depend on a variety of factors, including term of loan, a responsible financial history, income and other factors. Refinancing or consolidating private and federal student loans may not be the right decision for everyone. Federal loans carry special benefits not available for loans made through Splash Financial, for example, public service loan forgiveness and economic hardship programs, fee waivers and rebates on the principal, which may not be accessible to you after you refinance. The rates displayed may include a 0.25% autopay discount. The information you provide to us is an inquiry to determine whether we or our lenders can make a loan offer that meets your needs. If we or any of our lending partners has an available loan offer for you, you will be invited to submit a loan application to the lender for its review. We do not guarantee that you will receive any loan offers or that your loan application will be approved. Offers are subject to credit approval and are available only to U.S. citizens or permanent residents who meet applicable underwriting requirements. Not all borrowers will receive the lowest rates, which are available to the most qualified borrowers. Participating lenders, rates and terms are subject to change at any time without notice. To check the rates and terms you qualify for, Splash Financial conducts a soft credit pull that will not affect your credit score. However, if you choose a product and continue your application, the lender will request your full credit report from one or more consumer reporting agencies, which is considered a hard credit pull and may affect your credit. Splash Financial and our lending partners reserve the right to modify or discontinue products and benefits at any time without notice. To qualify, a borrower must be a U.S. citizen and meet our lending partner’s underwriting requirements. Lowest rates are reserved for the highest qualified borrowers. This information is current as of September 6, 2022. 2 Important Disclosures for Laurel Road. Laurel Road DisclosuresAll credit products are subject to credit approval. Laurel Road began originating student loans in 2013 and has since helped thousands of professionals with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees consolidate and refinance more than $9 billion in federal and private school loans. Laurel Road also offers a suite of online graduate school loan products and personal loans that help simplify lending through customized technology and personalized service. In April 2019, Laurel Road was acquired by KeyBank, one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies. Laurel Road is a brand of KeyBank National Association offering online lending products in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. All loans are provided by KeyBank National Association, a nationally chartered bank. Member FDIC. For more information, visit www.laurelroad.com. As used throughout these Terms & Conditions, the term “Lender” refers to KeyBank National Association and its affiliates, agents, guaranty insurers, investors, assigns, and successors in interest.
Assumptions: Repayment examples above assume a loan amount of $10,000 with repayment beginning immediately following disbursement. Repayment examples do not include the 0.25% AutoPay Discount. Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): This term represents the actual cost of financing to the borrower over the life of the loan expressed as a yearly rate. Interest Rate: A simple annual rate that is applied to an unpaid balance. Variable Rates: The current index for variable rate loans is derived from the one-month London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) and changes in the LIBOR index may cause your monthly payment to increase. Borrowers who take out a term of 5, 7, or 10 years will have a maximum interest rate of 9%, those who take out a 15 or 20-year variable loan will have a maximum interest rate of 10%. KEYBANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. This information is current as of April 29, 2021. Information and rates are subject to change without notice. 3 Important Disclosures for LendKey. LendKey DisclosuresRefinancing via LendKey.com is only available for applicants with qualified private education loans from an eligible institution. Loans that were used for exam preparation classes, including, but not limited to, loans for LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, and GRE preparation, are not eligible for refinancing with a lender via LendKey.com. If you currently have any of these exam preparation loans, you should not include them in an application to refinance your student loans on this website. Applicants must be either U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents in an eligible state to qualify for a loan. Certain membership requirements (including the opening of a share account and any applicable association fees in connection with membership) may apply in the event that an applicant wishes to accept a loan offer from a credit union lender. Lenders participating on LendKey.com reserve the right to modify or discontinue the products, terms, and benefits offered on this website at any time without notice. LendKey Technologies, Inc. is not affiliated with, nor does it endorse, any educational institution. Subject to floor rate and may require the automatic payments be made from a checking or savings account with the lender. The rate reduction will be removed and the rate will be increased by 0.25% upon any cancellation or failed collection attempt of the automatic payment and will be suspended during any period of deferment or forbearance. As a result, during the forbearance or suspension period, and/or if the automatic payment is canceled, any increase will take the form of higher payments. The lowest advertised variable APR is only available for loan terms of 5 years and is reserved for applicants with FICO scores of at least 810. As of 09/09/2022 student loan refinancing rates range from 4.13% APR – 7.39% Variable APR with AutoPay and 2.99% APR – 9.93% Fixed APR with AutoPay. 4 Rate range above includes optional 0.25% Auto Pay discount. Important Disclosures for Earnest. Earnest DisclosuresYou can choose between fixed and variable rates. Fixed interest rates are 3.99% – 8.74% APR (3.74% – 8.49% APR with Auto Pay discount). Starting variable interest rates are 2.74% APR to 8.24% APR (2.49% – 7.99% APR with Auto Pay discount). Variable rates are based on an index, the 30-day Average Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus a margin. Variable rates are reset monthly based on the fluctuation of the index. We do not currently offer variable rate loans in AK, CO, CT, HI, IL, KY, MA, MN, MS, NH, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, and VA. 5 Important Disclosures for Navient. 6 Important Disclosures for SoFi. SoFi DisclosuresFixed rates range from 3.99% APR to 8.24% APR with a 0.25% autopay discount. Variable rates from 3.24% APR to 8.24% APR with a 0.25% autopay discount. Unless required to be lower to comply with applicable law, Variable Interest rates on 5-, 7-, and 10-year terms are capped at 8.95% APR; 15- and 20-year terms are capped at 9.95% APR. Your actual rate will be within the range of rates listed above and will depend on the term you select, evaluation of your creditworthiness, income, presence of a co-signer and a variety of other factors. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. For the SoFi variable-rate product, the variable interest rate for a given month is derived by adding a margin to the 30-day average SOFR index, published two business days preceding such calendar month, rounded up to the nearest one hundredth of one percent (0.01% or 0.0001). APRs for variable-rate loans may increase after origination if the SOFR index increases. The SoFi 0.25% autopay interest rate reduction requires you to agree to make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic monthly deduction from a savings or checking account. This benefit will discontinue and be lost for periods in which you do not pay by automatic deduction from a savings or checking account. The benefit lowers your interest rate but does not change the amount of your monthly payment. This benefit is suspended during periods of deferment and forbearance. Autopay is not required to receive a loan from SoFi. 7 Important Disclosures for Purefy. Purefy DisclosuresPurefy Student Loan Refinancing Rate and Terms Disclosure: Annual Percentage Rates (APR) ranges and examples are based on information provided to Purefy by lenders participating in Purefy’s rate comparison platform. For student loan refinancing, the participating lenders offer fixed rates ranging from 2.73% – 7.99% APR, and variable rates ranging from 1.74% – 7.99% APR. The maximum variable rate is 25.00%. Your interest rate will be based on the lender’s requirements. In most cases, lenders determine the interest rates based on your credit score, degree type and other credit and financial criteria. Only borrowers with excellent credit and meeting other lender criteria will qualify for the lowest rate available. Rates and terms are subject to change at any time without notice. Terms and conditions apply. 8 Important Disclosures for Citizens. CitizensBank DisclosuresEducation Refinance Loan Rate Disclosure: Variable interest rates range from 3.69%-9.92% (3.69%-9.92% APR). Fixed interest rates range from 4.49%-10.11% (4.49%-10.11% APR). Undergraduate Rate Disclosure: Variable interest rates range from 6.39%- 9.60% (6.39% – 9.60% APR). Fixed interest rates range from 6.58% – 9.79% (6.58% – 9.79% APR). Graduate Rate Disclosure: Variable interest rates range from 3.69% – 9.16% (3.69% – 9.16% APR). Fixed interest rates range from 4.49% – 9.35% (4.49% – 9.35% APR). Education Refinance Loan for Parents Rate Disclosure: Variable interest rates range from 3.69%- 9.09% (3.69%- 9.09% APR). Fixed interest rates range from 4.49% – 9.28% (4.49% – 9.28% APR). Medical Residency Refinance Loan Rate Disclosure: Variable interest rates range from 3.69% – 9.16% (3.69% – 9.16% APR). Fixed interest rates range from 4.49% – 9.35% (4.49% – 9.35% APR). |
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