
Sign up & start saving!
Get our weekly newsletter for the latest in money news, credit card offers + more ways to save
finder.com’s rating: 4.1 / 5.0
★★★★★
1.99% to 5.64%
APR
$500,000
Max. Loan Amount
650
Min. Credit Score
Product Name | Earnest Student Loan Refinancing |
---|---|
Minimum Loan Amount | $5,000 |
Max. Loan Amount | $500,000 |
APR | 1.99% to 5.64% |
Interest Rate Type | Variable |
Fixed rate | 2.98% to 5.79% |
Minimum Loan Term | 5 years |
Maximum Loan Term | 20 years |
Requirements | 650+ credit score, $5,000+ in student debt from a Title IV school, meet income and credit history requirements, live in an eligible state, US citizen or permanent resident, ages 18+ |
Review by
Aliyyah Camp is a writer and personal finance blogger who helps readers compare personal, student, car and business loans. Aliyyah earned a BA in communication from the University of Pennsylvania and is based in New York, where she enjoys movies and running outdoors.
You might want to consider refinancing with Earnest if you have near-perfect credit and savings that grow each month. Rates start ridiculously low, and it tailors repayments to fit your exact budget. Plus, it offers both deferment and forbearance options if you face a financial rough patch or decide to go back to school.
But it has high financial standards. And you can’t apply with a cosigner to help you qualify. You also aren’t eligible if you never completed your degree.
Not sure Earnest is right for you? Compare other refinancing options below.
Earnest prides itself on a technique called Precision Pricing to make your repayments fit your budget. The minimum loan balance you’ll need to refinance is $5,000, with Earnest.
/
Refinancing starts at a variable 1.99% APR or fixed 3.19% APR with autopay. Variable rates aren’t available in Alaska, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.
Terms range from 5 years to 20 years. Those terms can be broken down by month as part of Earnest’s Precision Pricing.
Use our calculator below to calculate how much it’ll cost you to refinance with Earnest monthly and overall.
Your loan |
---|
Loan amount |
$
|
Loan terms (in years) |
|
Interest rate |
$
%
|
or
Compare student loans nowEarnest might be able to help some borrowers save. But weigh the benefits and drawbacks before you apply.
BBB accredited | Yes |
---|---|
BBB rating | A+ |
BBB customer reviews | 1.63 out of 5 stars, based on 24 customer reviews |
Trustpilot Score | 4.7 out of 5 stars, based on 2,596 customer reviews |
Customer reviews verified as of | 16 October 2020 |
You’ve got your finances on lock, and you’re ready to apply. First, you’ll want to make sure you meet the following criteria:
Earnest provides guidelines on its website. They aren’t hard-and-fast rules but are heavily suggested if you want to improve your chances of application approval.
If you want to refinance an Earnest student loan, it must have at least six months of on-time repayments
Getting your rate should take about two minutes. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
To continue with your application after you get your range of potential rates:
On agreement, you should have been able to set up autopay to ensure that your payments are on time and get the rate discount. If you didn’t sign up then, you can enroll through your Earnest online account.
Simply log in to your account and click Loan details. Sign up from there, shifting your pay schedule to biweekly at the same time, if you’d like.
If your finances start getting rocky and you think you might not be able to make a payment, call Earnest’s customer support team right away. They’ll may be able to work with you to find an alternative solution.
Earnest services its own student loans, so you won’t have to contact a different company when you have questions about repayments or forbearance. While Earnest was acquired by student loan servicer Navient in 2017, it still operates independently and handles all student loan repayments.
Don’t have the finances to qualify with Earnest? Compare your other options with our guide to student loan refinancing.
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
We rate student loan providers on a scale of 1 to 5 stars based on factors like transparency, costs and customer experience. We don’t take into account elements like eligibility criteria, state availability or payment frequency — we save that for our reviews.