Best Private Student Loans

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Why We Chose It:Ascent offers student loans including non-co-signed loans for undergraduates with competitive interest rates, graduated repayments, and generous forbearance options.

A property of Goal Solutions, Inc. and Richland State Bank, Ascent is one of the few lenders to offer non-co-signer loans for undergraduates. This, combined with graduated repayment and flexible postponement options and rewards, makes it our choice as the best overall.

Ascent offers two types of student loans for undergraduates with either a fixed or variable annual percentage rate (APR) and repayment terms of five, seven, 10, 12, or 15 years. Its co-signed loans come with a fixed APR starting at 3.22% and three repayment options: a deferred plan which gives you up to nine months after leaving school to begin repayments and a $25 flat-fee or interest-only repayments while in school.

Ascent’s non-co-signed undergraduate loans include a credit-based option with a fixed APR starting at 8.64% and an annual loan limit of $200,000 or a future income-based option as low as 14.96% with an annual loan limit of $20,000 (as of July 2022). Flat-fee and in-school interest-only payments are not available for non-co-signed undergraduate loans.

In addition to a 0.25% automatic payment discount (2.00% on co-signed credit-based student loans), Ascent also offers a 1% cash-back graduation reward subject to certain terms and conditions. The lender also offers flexible deferment and forbearance options including active duty military, in-school, and internship deferments as well as temporary hardship, administrative, and natural disaster forbearances.

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Why We Chose It:Earnest is a student loan refinancing company that also offers undergraduate and graduate loans with flexible repayment options. It considers a borrower’s complete financial profile and career path for determining refinancing rates.

Started in 2013 as a student loan refinancing company, Earnest began offering private student loans for undergraduate and graduate students in 2019. Unlike most lenders that just look at credit scores and financial history, Earnest considers savings, investments, and career trajectory to determine a borrower’s refinancing rate, making it the best for flexible approval.

认真提供本科和gr的再融资aduate loans with a fixed APR starting at 2.99%*, a variable APR as low as 1.74%*, and repayment terms of five, seven, 10, 12, or 15 years (as of June 2022). The lender also offers four repayment terms, including a nine-month deferred payment period, a flat $25 in-school payment, in-school interest-only payments, and full repayments.

Earnest also offers a 0.25% autopay discount, and charges no origination, disbursement, prepayment, or late payment fees. In addition, borrowers can skip one payment every 12 months, although interest will still accrue and it will extend your payoff date. Students are required to be enrolled full-time and if applying without a co-signer, must have an annual income of at least $35,000, and a 650 credit score.

Earnest provides borrowers with flexible forbearance options allowing them to postpone payments in three-month increments for up to 12 months total. These include deferments for unemployment, an involuntary decrease in income, and emergency and medical expenses.

*rates featured include 0.25% Auto Pay discount.

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Why We Chose It:Credible makes it easy to compare private student loan rates from multiple lenders in minutes with one simple application and no hard credit check.

Founded in 2012, Credible is a website that lets you fill out one simple form for free and get pre-qualified for up to eight student loans in minutes. Its ease of use, soft credit check, and side-by-side comparisons make it our choice as the best marketplace.

可信的让你绕过资格预审表格s offered on most student loan websites by having you fill out one simple form. The company uses secure 256-bit encryption and SSL technology to keep your personal data private and will never share your information without your permission.

Credible is free to use and the company only gets paid by its partners when one closes a loan from a referral. Once you create an account, you enter some basic information and you’ll get a side-by-side comparison of up to eight private lenders (or 10 if you’re looking for refinancing loans). You’ll get information on whether or not you prequalify as well as a comparison of monthly payments, APRs, loan term, and total amount repaid.

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Why We Chose It:Sallie Mae offers undergraduate and graduate student loans with free FICO credit score tracking for borrowers and co-signers and a co-signer release after just 12 payments.

Originally developed by the U.S. in 1973 to service federal education loans, Sallie Mae now offers a variety of private student loans. It also allows co-signers to be released after a borrower completes 12 payments, making it our choice as the best for co-signers.

Sallie Mae offers undergraduate loans with a fixed APR starting at 3.75% and a variable APR as low as 1.87% with terms of five to 15 years. Repayment options include deferred repayments, fixed repayments of $25, or interest-only payments while in school.

One of Sallie Mae’s most generous features is its co-signer release policy. The lender encourages co-signing by claiming that its applicants have over a 90% approval rate with a co-signer. To further sweeten the deal, Sallie Mae will allow co-signers to apply for release if a borrower is current on all Sallie Mae-serviced loans for 12 consecutive months. Borrowers can also fulfill this requirement by pre-paying 12 principal and interest payments.

Co-signers and borrowers alike are also eligible to get a free FICO credit score four times per year. Undergraduate loan borrowers also get four free months of study services from Chegg which includes expert Q&A, paper proofreading and citation help, and one hour of on-demand homework help from vetted tutors.

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Why We Chose It:Along with loans for undergraduates, SoFi also offers graduate student loans with some of the lowest rates we’ve seen as well as career coaching, financial planning, unemployment protection, and more.

Best known for student loan refinancing, SoFi also offers loans to undergraduates, graduate students, and parents. Its low-rate graduate student loans feature suspended payments in case of unemployment along with job placement assistance making it our top pick as the best for graduate students.

SoFi’s graduate loans offer low-interest rates on par with many undergraduate loans we’ve seen with a fixed APR starting at just 4.60% and a variable APR as low as 2.59% (as of June 2022). Loan terms are five, seven, 10, 15, or 20 years and you can borrow up to 100% of the school-certified cost of attendance.

SoFi also allows graduate students to choose from one of four repayment options: deferred, interest-only, $25 fixed monthly payments, or full payments while in school. The lender even allows applicants to submit a job offer letter as proof of income when applying for a law or MBA loan.

Finally, SoFi offers several perks and protections for graduate students including an unemployment deferment in increments of three months up to one year and job placement assistance. SoFi members also get access to personalized financial planning advice, rate reductions or discounts on eligible loans, career tools with one-on-one coaching, and more.

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Why We Chose It:College Ave Student Loans offers undergraduate and graduate loans with no co-signer requirements, parent loans and some of the lowest variable and fixed rates in the industry.

College Ave offers undergraduate, graduate, and parent loans as well as career loans and graduate loans for MBA, dental, law, and medical students. The lender offers a variable APR as low as 2.49% and a fixed APR starting at 3.22% (with auto-pay) making it the best choice for low-interest rates (as of September 2022).

All College Ave loans offer terms of five, eight, 10, or 15 years and can fund up to 100% of the school-certified cost of attendance. An extra 20-year term is available for dental, medical, and law graduate loans. College Ave also offers career loans for associates, bachelor, and graduate students at select schools and offers a $150 cash-back reward when students complete their program of study.

College Ave also offers deferred, interest-only, and $25 per month flat payments while in school as well as full principal and interest payment options. Undergraduate borrowers can also defer principal and interest payments six months after graduating or dropping to half-time enrollment.

Although College Ave doesn’t require a co-signer, it claims that over 98% of its borrowers do have one. The lender also requires its borrowers to meet satisfactory academic progress standards. These are defined by individual schools and can involve maintaining a minimum grade-point average, taking a certain number of credits, and more.

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Why We Chose It:CommonBond offers undergraduate and graduate loans along with a generous 24-month forbearance and hybrid rate refinancing giving borrowers greater repayment flexibility.

CommonBond成立于2012年提供简化的学生罗ans with low rates and flexible repayment options. The lender offers hybrid-rate refinancing for borrowers who want to prepay their debt making it the best for refinancing.

CommonBond offers undergraduate and graduate loans with a fixed APRs starting at 3.74% and a variable APR as low as 4.11% (as of April 2022). Loan terms are available for five, seven, 10, 15, or 20 years and feature deferred, interest-only, $25 flat-fee, or full monthly payments while in school.

CommonBond also offers refinancing loans with low rates, including a 2.59% fixed and 2.51% variable APR. The lender also gives borrowers the option to choose a hybrid-rate loan that lets you lock in a fixed rate for the first five years and then switches to a variable rate for the duration of the term. This is a good option if you intend to prepay your loan or want to get a head start on repayments while your rates are low.

CommonBond also allows Parent PLUS loans to be transferred to students for refinancing, even if the loan is co-signed. The lender also offers a generous 24-month forbearance, twice as long as that of most lenders.