Student Loan Refinancing
Should You Consolidate or Refinance Your Student Loans?
If you currently have multiple federal student loans, consolidation allows you to combine them into a single loan with just one monthly bill. It’s also possible to consolidate federal and private student loans into a single loan (known as refinancing) if you meet the credit requirements.
Although this may seem like a great idea on the surface, it’s not right for everyone. In some cases, federal student loan consolidation can lead to a longer repayment term, increasing your interest payments and overall debt. You may also lose certain borrower benefits or even credit for payments made toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
Refinancing your federal student loans into a private loan also means that you’ll lose federal loan protections and no longer have access to federal repayment options or student loan forgiveness. On the upside, if you refinance at a lower interest rate, you could save thousands over the life of the loan.
Before consolidating or refinancing your student loans, speak with a MoneySolver student loan advisor and explore all your repayment options!
Student Loan Refinancing Companies
If you’d like to consolidate your federal student loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan, you can apply online for free at StudentAid.gov. To refinance your private and/or federal student loans, we also suggest checking out the following reputable companies.
- Only takes a few minutes to check rates and will not impact your credit score*
- No refinancing fees or pre-payment penalties
- Personalized refinance support from top-rated customer success team
*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.
- Guaranteed rate match
- No application or origination fees
- Loans of $5,000 and up
- In-house loan servicing
- AutoPay interest rate reduction
- Loans of $5,000 and up
- Soft credit check to qualify
- No prepayment penalties
- Loans of $5,000 and up
- No application or origination fees
- Apply in minutes from any device
- Loans of $5,000 and up