9 Best Student Loan Refinance Companies – May ’24

  • FitBUX
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  • 9 Best Student Loan Refinance Companies – May ’24
Author: Joseph Reinke, CFA

We have helped FitBUX Members manage and eliminate over $1.5 billion in student loans.  In doing so, we’ve developed knowledge and experiences working with the best student loan refinance companies.

In addition, our student loan planners have been able to establish the best student loan refinance companies that can benefit our Members and we’ve eliminate those that we have received a lot of complaints about.

Below is our list of the 9 best student loan refinance companies that FitBUX has chosen to partner with. For more information, you may click on each one for an in-depth review.

Also, we’ve broken down a handful of specific categories and ranked the best companies within those categories. Thus, you can find one that suits your situation.  If you need help, be sure to check out our student loan refinance service.

FitBUX's Free Student Loan Refinance Service

9 Best Student Loan Refinance Companies & Reviews

Lender

Description

Check Rate

Student Loan Refinance Company Splash Financial

Splash Financial consistently has the best rates, in the industry. They also have some of them most lenient qualification standards of all the companies. Read the full review.

Earnest Student Loan Refinance Company

Earnest has the best technology & they are the fastest student loan refinance company in the industry.  Read the full review.

ELFI is one of FitBUX's newer partners.  We have a great relationship with them and so far they have been extremely competitive with rates.  Read the full review.

LendKey Student Loan Refinance Company

LendKey is the best for shopping credit unions.  They shop over 275 credit unions and community banks. They won FitBUX’s 2019 award for best customer service. Read the full review.

Laurel Road Student Loan Refinance

Definitely check them out if you are in the healthcare industry.  However, Laurel Road does not consistently have rates that are competitive with the other lenders. Read the full review.

ISL Student Loan Refinance Company

ISL Education Lending is a new partner as well. They lend to most states, except for Maine. Get your rates above and find out how much you might save. Review coming soon!

SoFi has top notch technology and are quick to fund loans.  However, less than 1% of the time they have had the best rates for FitBUX Members relative to our other partners. Read the full review.

Brazos Student Loan Refinance Company

Brazos is a new partner. They only lend to residents of Texas.  However, if you live in Texas, they have they have good rates. Review coming soon!

College Ave Student Loan Refinance Company

College Ave is a recent addition to our platform. We are excited because they offer great in-school loans. Therefore, we are anxious to see what type of refinance rates they offer. Read the full review.

Student Loan Refinance Giveaway

Best Student Loan Refinance Company By Category

Having helped thousands of FitBUX members and thanks to our long-lasting relationships with our partners, here is a quick summary of our findings. Of course, each situation is different, but this is a great place to start.

Best Rates 

  1. Splash
  2. Earnest
  3. ELFI 

Best for High DTI Ratios

  1. Splash
  2. Earnest
  3. Lendkey

Best for Lower Credit Scores (sub 700)

  1. Earnest
  2. Lendkey
  3. Laurel Road

Easiest Application Process (time, ease of use)

  1. Earnest
  2. SoFi

Best for Borrowers needing a “non-spouse” cosigner

  1. Splash
  2. Lendkey
  3. ELFI

Best for Spousal Cosigners

  1. Splash
  2. Laurel Road

Greatest Options/Customization

  1. Earnest
  2. Splash

Most Innovative

  1. Earnest
  2. Splash

Most Comprehensive for Complex Situations

  1. Splash
  2. Laurel Road

FitBUX's Free Student Loan Refinance Service

Best Student Loan Refinance Rates

Below are rates that we are “typically” seeing right now for those applying without a co-signer.  By “typically” I am referring to what you can actually expect to receive not the ultra low rates that all the student loan refinance companies advertise.

5 Year Fixed Rate Loan: 4.5%

10 Year Fixed Rate Loan: 5.25%

15 Year Fixed Rate Loan: 6.1%

20 Year Fixed Rate Loan: 6.5%.

How The Best Student Loan Refinance Companies Are Chosen

We want Members of FitBUX to have a good experience. Therefore, we look at a number of factors when determining the best student loan refinance companies.  Below is a brief list of the factors we take into account:

  1. Technology Platform:  The best should make it easy for people to get a quote, complete an application, and get their loan funded?
  2. Rates Stability: The best companies quote you a rate which is the same rate at the end of the process. I.e. the lender doesn’t quote you something good then increase your rate at the end.
  3. Quality of Customer Service: This is key during the application process as well as after the loan is completed.  We make sure the best companies treat FitBUX members well.
  4. Product Availability: We want to make sure we have a lender that can service you. Therefore, we limit companies that are geographically limited on our list.
  5. Ease of Interaction: To make the end to end process as smooth as possible for FitBUX members, we try and communicate with the company directly. However, due to legal restrictions, there may be instances where a FitBUX member has to join a 3-way call with us and the lender. Some companies are better than others when it comes to this.
  6. Rates Competitiveness: We want to make sure that our refinance partners offer the best interest rates in the market. We also have a few partners that will compete against each other if the situation is right.
  7. Approval: With the invest of technology, underwriting and approval of the loan should be easy.  The best companies have awesome underwriting technology.  There are always going to be unique situations but it shouldn’t take 2 weeks to get a loan anymore.
  8. Credit Checks:  The best companies allow you to get a rate quote using a soft credit check. This means when you check rates it doesn’t go on your credit report.  Any company that doesn’t do this is automatically excluded from our list.

Please note that there are companies that we’ve partnered with that we decided to no longer work with.  Some have really big names, others are small companies who are struggling with development.

Either way, our members have tended to have bad experiences with these companies or they don’t meet our requirements above.

Therefore, if you don’t see a company on our list, we know who they are and have decided not to work with them.  You are more than welcome to ask your FitBUX Coach about these other companies.

Conclusion

The goal is to have an awesome experience which is why we have published this list of best student loan refinance refinance companies.  They will give you a great experience and the best possible rate.

If you need help, FitBUX can help. We work for you not the lender! 

Our approach is unique in two ways: First, we help you determine whether refinancing is right for you and whether you should be using our student loan refinance service. Your FitBUX Coach will help you:

  1. Analyze your situation, crunch numbers for you, and help determine if refinancing is right for you,
  2. Find the best student loan refinance company for your situation,
  3. Help you choose the right loan product,
  4. Help you throughout the process should you need it, and
  5. Call your old lender with you should they not allocate the funds correctly or make other mistakes along the way.

Second, we have a truly unbiased approach. 

I have spent a lot of time in the finance world and have personally witnessed “financial professionals” simply push certain products that pay them the most. 

Your FitBUX Coach is a salaried employee and does not get paid on commission. 

Therefore, they have zero to gain or lose based on if you refinance or not. In fact, less than 15% of FitBUX Members refinance their Federal student loans!

By Joseph Reinke, CFA, Founder of FitBUX


Joseph Reinke, CFA

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About the Author

Joseph Reinke is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charter Holder and founder of FitBUX which has helped over 14,000 young professionals on their journey to financial freedom. Joseph has been personally investing since he was 12 years old.

In addition, he has experience in student loans, mortgages, wealth management, investment banking, valuation, stock trading, and option trading. He has been on 100s of podcast and has been invited to 100s of universities to discuss financial planning with their soon to be graduates.

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