Sallie Mae CD Rates and Review: High APYs
Sallie Mae CD isn't available on Finder right now.
- 1-year APY
- 4.15%
- 36-month APY
- 4.35%
- 5-year APY
- 4.35%
Our verdict
Enjoy strong APYs on select terms for as low as $1 when you open through Raisin.
Sallie Mae offers 11 CD terms directly through their site, and two through their partner Raisin. Rates across the board are very competitive. The key difference? You’ll need at least $2,500 to open a CD directly through Sallie Mae, and only $1 if you open one through Raisin.
Best for: Savers who want high rates on CDs.
Pros
-
High rates for all terms
-
11 terms to choose from
-
Good customer ratings
Cons
-
$2,500 minimum deposit
Sallie Mae vs. Raisin CDs
Raisin’s array of Sallie Mae CDs offers a few distinct advantages over opening a CD with Sallie Mae directly. The first is the low minimum deposit of just $1.
Compared to opening a CD with Sallie Mae directly, you’d need at least $2,500, which is rather high when it comes to CDs. This makes Raisin’s options a great entry point for growing money with a CD without committing to the higher minimum deposit.
Sallie Mae CD rates
These are the current CD rates and deposit requirements if you were to open a CD directly with Sallie Mae.
Sallie Mae’s CD rates are compounded daily and credited to your account on the last day of each month. Like most CDs, it features an early withdrawal penalty should you withdraw your funds prior to maturity.
| CD term | APY | Minimum deposit |
|---|---|---|
| 6-month CD | 3.2% | $2,500 |
| 9-month CD | 3.2% | $2,500 |
| 11-month CD | 4.05% | $2,500 |
| 12-month CD | 4.15% | $2,500 |
| 13-month CD | 4.1% | $2,500 |
| 15-month CD | 4.2% | $2,500 |
| 18-month CD | 4.25% | $2,500 |
| 24-month CD | 4.25% | $2,500 |
| 30-month CD | 4.25% | $2,500 |
| 36-month CD | 4.35% | $2,500 |
| 60-month CD | 4.35% | $2,500 |
Sallie Mae CD rates through Raisin
There are two Sallie Mae CD terms through Raisin, and both just require a minimum deposit of $1.
- 10-month term, 3.80% APY
- 14-month term, 3.90% APY
Normally, CD rates offered through Raisin are higher than the bank offerings itself, but Sallie Mae is currently offering better rates. However, you’ll need at least $2,500 to open with Sallie Mae. So the choice is yours: get a better rate with a higher deposit requirement through Sallie Mae directly, or deposit what you can and get a slightly lower rate with Raisin.
More about Sallie Bank’s CDs: Deposits, fees and details
| What it is | Sallie Mae CDs through Raisin | CDs directly through Sallie Mae |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $1 | $2,500 |
| Total term options | 2 terms | 11 terms |
| Early withdrawal penalties | Penalty equal to 180 days’ simple interest. No penalty on its 10- and 14-month no-penalty CDs. | Terms of 12 months or less: 90 days’ simple interest. Terms 12+ months: 180 days’ simple interest. |
| Grace period | 7 days | 10 days |
| Cashout and rollover details | At maturity, you have a 7-day grace period to renew to a new term. There’s no grace period if you withdraw and don’t renew for a new term. | You may withdraw as a check or transfer funds to a checking or savings account. At maturity, you have a 10-day grace period to withdraw funds from your account without penalty. You can prevent renewal by withdrawing the funds in your CD at maturity or within the grace period. |
Compare Sallie Mae with other CDs
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How we picked theseWhat is the Finder Score?
The Finder Score analyzes hundreds of CDs from more than 100 institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate for available terms and opening deposit requirements - this gives you a simple score out of 10.
Different banks and credit unions offer CDs for various lengths of time, ranging from as short as seven days to as long as 20 years. For our ratings, we consider the term lengths that the FDIC uses in its monthly updates on national rates.
If a bank or credit union doesn’t offer a CD for a specific term used by the FDIC, we don’t penalize it: Instead, we simply don’t rate it. Each of the standard term lengths has its own APY rating based on the FDIC’s average rates.
Sallie Mae customer reviews and ratings
| BBB accredited | Yes |
|---|---|
| BBB rating | A+ |
| BBB customer reviews | 1.17 out of 5 stars, based on 106 customer reviews |
| Trustpilot score | 4.7 out of 5 stars, based on 2,787 customer reviews |
| Customer reviews verified as of | 06 August 2026 |
Sallie Mae is largely known for its loan servicing, specifically for education. And because of that, the majority of its customer reviews are in reference to those services.
Many customers say that Sallie Mae’s site is easy to navigate, and offers great rates on loans and banking products. However, there are no specific mentions of Sallie Mae’s CDs on Trustpilot.
On other platforms, Sallie Mae customers generally like the rates and products offered by Raisin, but find the customer and account servicing a bit more challenging than opening a product directly through a bank. They argue this is because Raisin works as the intermediary between you and your account, and customers are unable to service their account with the associated bank directly.
CDs ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
We rate CDs and share certificates on a scale ranging from one to five stars based on what matters most to you. We consider two factors equally when rating CDs: minimum deposits and annual percentage yields (APYs) relative to term length. If a bank requires a different minimum opening deposit depending on the chosen term, we rate the CD based on the average minimum deposit across all terms. And although some institutions offer CDs with terms ranging from one week to 20 years, we only consider term lengths the FDIC uses in its monthly updates on national rates.
Read the full methodology of how we rate CDs.
Your reviews
Bethany Finder
Banking editor
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