Private student loans are available from a variety of sources, including online lenders, traditional banks, and credit unions. Getting a student loan from a bank may be the best option for you, depending on your circumstances — especially if you already have a bank account and can qualify for loyalty discounts on a student loan. Which lenders, on the other hand, offer the best rates and benefits? To assist you in finding the best private student loan lender for you, we’ve produced a list of the best private student loan banks available today.
Best Student Loans
- Best Student Loan Marketplace: Credible
- Best Interest Rate: Citizens Bank
- Best Student Loan Consolidation: Splash Financial
- Best Parent Student Loan: Education Loan Finance(ELFI)
- Best for International Students: MPOWER Financing
Credible
With Credible, students can prequalify for rates from a variety of top lenders with just one application. However, because it does not examine every lender, students should look into other options to ensure they are getting the best loan.
The Most Beneficial Features
- Credible is a student loan marketplace that allows you to prequalify for loans from up to eight different lenders at the same time.
- Credible refuses to work with lenders who charge application, origination, or prepayment fees.
- The repayment options and lengths vary by lender, but most provide four in-school repayment options with terms ranging from five to twenty years.
- Over the life of the loan, most of the lenders’ Credible partners will give forbearance for at least 9 months and up to 24 months.
- Credible is also a student debt refinancing marketplace.
Applying for a Student Loan Through Credible
If you choose a loan offer from one of Credible’s partners, you can apply for a loan through Credible.
- Examine the details of all your offers on your Credible dashboard.
- On the right side of the dashboard, click “Select Lender” once you’ve decided which choice is best for you.
- You’ll provide some further information to the lender of your choice, and it will do a hard credit check on you, after which the lender may ask for additional documentation.
- The lender will next react with a decision depending on whether you still meet the prequalification criteria, your ability or inability to deliver the needed documentation, and any other relevant criteria.
Splash Financial
Splash Financial is a Cleveland-based student loan refinance lender marketplace with its own network of banks and credit unions. It provides consumers with loan quotations from its partner lenders in all 50 states. Federal, private, and Parent PLUS loans can all be refinanced. For doctors finishing residencies or fellowships, a customized refinancing scheme is available.
Splash Financial Offers What Kinds of Student Loans?
- The Splash Financial specializes in refinancing debts for borrowers with federal and private student loans, as well as parents.
- Those who have earned their graduate and professional degrees.
- Borrowers with a bachelor’s degree (from a Title IV-accredited institution).
- Graduates with an associate’s degree (or those enrolled in the final term and in specific fields of study).
- While completing a residency or fellowship, graduates with a medical degree.
What Are the Splash Financial Terms, Fees, and Conditions?
For student loan refinancing, Splash Financial offers fixed and variable rates with maturities ranging from five to 25 years. The minimum and maximum loan amounts vary by lending partner, but in general, the minimum loan is $5,000 and there is no maximum. There are no application or origination fees for borrowers. Autopay reductions will be listed alongside the loan rate if they are available. Late payments may result in costs from your lender after you refinance.
MPOWER Financing
MPOWER Financing is a public benefit corporation whose declared aim is to lower the cost of overseas education. It has offices in New York and Bangalore, India, and is headquartered in Washington, DC. Mpower was formed in 2014 by Manu Smadja and Michael Davis, who met while studying at INSEAD Paris. It has received a number of honors, including “Growth Company of the Year.”
How MPower financing offers student loans?
MPOWER Financing provides student loans to students who would otherwise be unable to obtain a loan from other banks or lenders without a cosigner or collateral. MPOWER Financing provides loans to students who are less than two years away from graduating. International students and domestic students whose parents lack the credit history to cosign, as well as DACA recipients, frequently benefit from these services. The company lends to people from over 190 different countries, including Americans. As of March 2018, MPOWER Financing’s services were offered in 350 university and college programs. Approximately 90% of its borrowers are enrolled in graduate school.
Read More: Student loan for international students
MPOWER international student loan rates
For the first six months of education and for six months following graduation, students make interest-only payments. Borrowers make full repayments (interest and principal) until the loan is paid off after this time period. While there are no application or prepayment fees, each loan comes with a 5% origination cost.
MPOWER international student loan rates Before discounts:
- Undergraduate fixed APR: 14.98%
- Graduate fixed APR: 12.94%
- Repayment terms: 10 years
- Loan amounts: $2,001–$100,000
Citizens Bank
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is an American bank with offices in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Citizens was a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group from 1988 till its initial public offering in 2014. In October 2015, the group sold its final 20.9 percent ownership in the company. Citizens Bank has more than 1,008 branches and 3,100 ATMs spread throughout 11 states.
In 2020, Citizens is ranked 22nd among the major banks in the United States.
Citizens Bank offers a variety of student loan options.
Citizens Bank provides loans for undergraduates, graduates, and parents. Refinancing loans for both student and parent loans are also available through the organization.
Citizens Bank Student Loans: How Do They Work?
Citizens Bank does not provide information about the minimum FICO credit score, credit history, or debt-to-income ratio required for loan acceptance. It also lacks a preapproval or “quick” application feature. Before you can learn about loan approval and terms, you must first apply. It is acceptable to have a co-signer.
Before You Apply
- Loan types: Undergraduate, Graduate, Refinance, Parent Loan, MBA, Medical School, Dental School, Law School, International Student Loan.
- Minimum FICO credit score: Not disclosed.
- Co-signer required: No.
- Better Business Bureau rating: A+.
The Most Beneficial Features
- Citizens Bank offers multiyear approved loans, which means that after you’ve begun, you won’t have to go through a credit check every year.
- Borrowers who set up automatic payments can save 0.25 percentage points on their interest rates.
- You can get an additional 0.25 percentage point discount if you hold a Citizens Bank account.
- If they have a co-signer who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident with acceptable credit, international students can apply.
Education Loan Finance(ELFI)
Student Loan Finance (ELFI) is a student loan refinancing program offered by Tennessee-based SouthEast Bank to college graduates and their parents around the country.
ELFI is a real company that has helped over 14,500 borrowers refinance their student debts since its inception in 2015. SouthEast Bank, which was founded in 2002 and now has over $2 billion in assets, provides funding for ELFI refinances. ELFI has also received positive feedback from 92 percent of customers who used Trustpilot to leave evaluations.
What Is the Process of Earnest Work?
Earnest requires applicants to share their school and work background in order to get a complete picture of their accomplishments. Your or your co-credit signer’s score, credit history, and income are also taken into account. Students can apply for undergraduate or graduate student loans online and expect to hear back within 72 hours. Students can choose a payment plan or defer repayment for nine months after graduation if their application is approved. Depending on the applicant and the school’s financial aid office, the loan could take anywhere from two to five weeks to be funded.
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Eligible for Student Loan Finance (ELFI)
To be eligible for ELFI student loans, students must be enrolled at least half-time in a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree program. Both the borrower and the cosigner must be at least eighteen years old at the time of the loan application and be citizens or permanent residents of the United States without restrictions. There are also financial requirements. The borrower or co-signer must have a minimum credit score of 680, a minimum credit history of 36 months, and a minimum annual income of $35,000.
Refinancing your student loans through the ELFI program may be the best option if:
- You need to refinance a large loan balance. ELFI has a loan maximum of $250,000. This could make it a good option to consider for borrowers who graduated with a high loan balance — such as from an advanced program like law or medicine.
- You earned your degree. To be eligible for refinancing with ELFI, you must have graduated with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
- You took out loans for your children. ELFI offers refinancing for any federal or private student loan — including Parent PLUS Loans. If you’re a parent who took out PLUS Loans to pay for your child’s education, you might be able to get a lower interest rate by refinancing with ELFI.
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