The Best Student Loan Refinance Options for 2024

Although it's best to refinance your student loan as early as possible to maximize your potential savings, Citizens Bank may not be the best option for college students (or those who recently graduated). It doesn't specify a minimum credit score requirement, but its eligibility requirements indicate that you must have good credit standing and a strong credit history to qualify.

Realistically, not all young adults can meet that criterion. And that leaves them at the higher end of the APR spectrum. With interest exceeding 11% for fixed and variable rates, you can find more competitive rates with other lenders, even if your credit score isn't stellar.

However, Citizens does allow you to have a cosigner, which could improve your chances of getting your refinance with more competitive rates. It also offers multiple discounts and multi-year approval.

SoFi has over 350,000 members who have refinanced their student loans using its services. And you can understand why — when it began operations in 2011, student loan refinancing was its first financial product. Now, SoFi remains one of the best options for student loan refinancing.

If you undergo financial hardship while repaying your loan, SoFi offers some repayment benefits and options, such as repayment postponement and loan discharge.

A good credit score will help you get the best rates, and you can reduce them further by signing up for AutoPay. If you can't meet the eligibility requirements, you may be able to apply with a co-signer. However, it's not something you should get into lightly because you must make 24 consecutive on-time payments before requesting a release for your co-signer.

Discover proves to be very understanding with their borrowers. Besides not charging a fee for origination and prepayment, it doesn't apply a penalty for late payment.

What sets it apart, however, is the support it provides borrowers who may have challenges making their monthly payments. Discover offers the following payment assistant options:

• Deferment
• Early repayment
• Payment extension
• Reduced payment
• Forbearance
• Hardship

Of course, you must meet specific criteria to be eligible for these, but it's good to know that you have options.

However, no matter the quality of Discover's support once you've signed your loan agreements, the bigger question is whether they will approve your application. With no pre-qualification tool and an undisclosed credit score requirement, it's challenging to estimate whether or not you qualify for a refinance.

Despite its benefits, Earnest has a considerable drawback for those exploring options to refinance their student loans — its availability. You'll have limited interest rate options if you're in Arkansas, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas. You can only get fixed rates in those states since variable ones (which are often lower) aren't available. Earnest doesn’t offer refinance options in Kentucky and Nevada at all. If you’re in California, your minimum refinance amount is $10,000.

But if Earnest refinancing is available in your area, you can expect multiple benefits. Borrowers who prefer to make more frequent payments can choose a bi-weekly payment option, which might make managing your monthly budget easier since you're looking at shorter periods.

Earnest also allows you to customize your monthly payment. Instead of asking you to choose between several options, it takes a different approach. You can use their tool to determine how much you can afford to pay each month, and Earnest calculates your loan term based on that.

Although PNC doesn't disclose its minimum credit score requirement, it's safe to assume that borrowers with very good to excellent credit scores can qualify for refinancing. They can also take advantage of PNC Bank's interest rates. Even with a 20-year repayment term, you can still get a rate lower than 4%.

However, if your credit standing is less than ideal, that doesn't mean you can't get competitive rates. You can apply with a co-signer, who you can release once you've worked on improving your credit score. Unlike other lenders, PNC has a co-signer release program in place. But you must complete 48 consecutive payments (all made on time) before it is available to you.

Laurel Road offers multiple benefits to borrowers who consider it an option to refinance their private student loan. It's a solid option for those who want to maximize the various financial products they offer.

For example, you can lower your interest rate further by opening and maintaining a checking account with the lender. Laurel Road also has a student loan cashback card. It allows you to redeem 2% cashback from eligible purchases and use it to repay your debt.

Borrowers who make their monthly payments on time benefit most. Laurel Road is a stickler for on-time payments, considering the late fee and return payment penalty it applies. These amounts may be small but can quickly eat away at your funds.

RISLA can be an excellent option to refinance your student loan, especially if you work, live or completed your education in Rhode Island. Although it accepts applications from borrowers from all states, those with ties to the Ocean State often enjoy lower rates.

You can find several programs that focus on protecting you against unfortunate situations. For example, RISLA offers forbearance during times of hardship, so you don't have to worry about making payments if you're already under financial stress. It also has an income-based repayment option and forgives the debt if you are permanently disabled (or worse).

That said, you may find its requirements too stringent. You must have an annual income of at least $40,000 to qualify for a refinance. If there are eligibility requirements that you don't meet, applying with a co-signer could help. However, ensure the co-signer is someone you trust because RISLA does not have a co-signer release program.