The Best Private Student Loans Companies of 2024

What Are the Best Private Student Loans?

Private student loans help those who don’t have access to federal student loans for a variety of reasons. The federal student loan limit is set at $57,500 for undergraduate degrees and $138,500 for graduate or professional students. Situations can arise where those totals won’t cover all college expenses. In those cases, a private student loan can cover the gap.

Private student loans can also help those who don’t qualify for federal student aid or loans. Students have to be enrolled at least half-time to qualify for federal loans. Student aid is only extended to those who demonstrate a need. Often non-citizens can turn to private student loans.

Why Are the Best Private Student Loans Important?

Private student loans fill a niche that can help people. Often those with low credit scores can turn to private lenders to finance their education. Some private student loan rates can rival, if not, beat federal student loan rates. You can also find fixed interest rates and multiple payment options with private student loans.

Who Needs the Best Private Student Loans?

Private student loans can help those who don’t qualify for student aid and federal student loans won’t cover the entirety of their educational expenses. They can also serve those with low credit scores and those in need of student loan refinancing. Some can tap into private student loans if they’ve exceeded the federal student loan borrowing limits.

The Best Private Student Loans General Information

Private student loans differ from federal student loans in several ways. Federal student loans get categorized as subsidized and unsubsidized. There are also federal loans available for parents to take out on behalf of their children.

Federal student loan repayment terms typically begin six months following completion of a college degree or six months from the last time they attended a school. You can defer federal student loan payments and choose several types of repayment options, like an income-driven plan. Similarly, private student loans have the same terms and repayment options, though the options vary by lender.

Federal student loans can include subsidized options and qualifying for them depends on income levels. Private student loans typically don’t offer subsidized student loans.

Loan forgiveness is difficult for both federal and private loans. There are programs to forgive federal student loans for those who work in the public sector. Often, teachers can qualify for student loan forgiveness after a period of five years. Private student loans have few forgiveness options. Also of note, federal student loans are rarely forgiven in the event of bankruptcy. Private student loans can be forgiven in bankruptcy, though it’s difficult.

Which Company Offers the Best Private Student Loans

Credible Student Loans is our pick as the best private student loan marketplace provider. Credible puts together a list of lenders and rates for students and borrowers to consider. You can find favorable rates, sometimes the rates beat federal student loan interest rates. You can also find student refinancing options with low interest rates. Credible lenders have flexible repayment lengths. You can have up to 20 years to repay a student loan with Credible lenders.

Using Credible won’t impact your credit score and you can quickly pre-qualify for loans through its website. It helps eliminate the hassle of pre-qualifying with multiple lenders before receiving a loan.

Credible Student Loans

Best Overall

Trusted Company Reviews Rating Score for Credible Student Loans: 9.7

Credible Review

Credible Student Loans is a highly-rated student loan marketplace company that many find easy to use. Users have praised quick turnaround times and an easy-to-understand application process. Credible provides extensive explanations for borrower questions and seeks to simplify the loan process.

Those who have posted critical reviews of the site have pointed out aggressive marketing tactics. Others didn’t like the amount of information they had to provide for pre-qualification. They wanted to see better communication during each step.

About Credible

Credible Student Loans offers a place for students to find private student loan options and loan refinancing possibilities. You can find several lenders in one place with information on terms and rates. You can complete an application to pre-qualify for loans and select the one that works best for you. Interest rates and terms vary between lenders. You can choose immediate repayment loans, deferred repayment loans, interest-only loans, and deferred repayment with con-signer release loans.

Credible Features and Benefits

Credible provides a host of financial services as an online marketplace for borrowers and lenders. In addition to being one of the best places for private student loans, it ranks among the best debt consolidation lenders, too. You can find generous rates and a mix of fixed and variable rate loans. There are also refinancing options available. Terms will vary by the lender, but using the marketplace won’t affect your credit score.

• No credit check
• Loans, refinancing, and loan consolidation available
• Free to use
• Interest rates range from 3.79% to 17.99%
• Fees vary by lender
• Can refinance private and federal student loans

Why We Chose Credible

We picked Credible Student Loans as our top choice because of the robust services and marketplace it offers. You can find favorable rates and terms for private student loans and refinancing options. Those who have used Credible have enjoyed the user-friendly organization of the website and makes it easy to understand the nebulous world of student loans. Credible is also great for a number of other financial services, like debt consolidation and personal loans.

Credible Pros and Cons

Pros

• Compare loan and refinancing offers quickly without impacting credit score
• Doesn’t sell your information to lenders
• Fixed rates available

Cons

Not a direct lender
Must qualify for lenders
Only shows pre-qualified loans based on eligibility

Read Our Credible Review

Ascent Student Loans

Trusted Company Reviews Rating Score for Ascent Private Student Loans: 9.5

Ascent Review

Ascent Student Loans, which falls under the umbrella of Ascent Funding, provides five loan options for borrowers. You can choose between a co-signed credit-based loan, a parent credit-based loan, a non-co-signed credit-based loan, a non-co-signed, credit-based loan, or a non-co-signed, outcomes-based loan. Ascent has flexible repayment options and high borrowing limits.

Ascent enjoys favorable reviews and Credible Student Loans points to the company as one of its featured affiliate partners. Ascent extends scholarship opportunities to students and goes out of its way to answer student loan questions.

About Ascent

Ascent Funding started operating in 2015 and has become known as one of the best places to work in several publications in that short time. The company partners with several lenders to offer financing to those pursuing an undergraduate, graduate, or doctorate degree. You can also use Ascent to find a loan for career training and trade school tuition.

Ascent Features and Benefits

Ascent doesn’t require a co-signer with some of its loans and it has a lower annual minimum income requirement than other lenders or lender marketplace sites on our list. You can find generous rates through Ascent and longer loan lengths. The company also makes it possible to borrow up to $400,000, but hopefully your education doesn’t cost that much.

• Fixed interest rates vary from 3.79% to 15.86%
• Variable interest range between 6.16% and 16.1%
• Autopay discounts available
• No application, prepayment, or origination fees
• Can borrow up to $400,000
• Has a nine-month grace period

Why We Chose Ascent

We picked Ascent as one of the best private student loan marketplaces because it has perks like scholarships and a rewards program available. Accent Rewards allows you to earn cash back when you use Ascent partners to make purchases. The company has partnerships with Dick’s Sporting Goods, Booking.com, Doordash, and Wal-Mart to name a few.

Ascent has competitive interest rates and a generous nine-month grace period following graduation before repayment begins. You can choose deferred repayment, interest-only repayment, fixed loan repayment, residency deferred repayments, and military deferment repayment. You can also apply for a hardship forbearance for up to 24 months.

Ascent Pros and Cons

Pros

• Available to DACA and international students
• Five repayment options
• Offers future income-based loans

Cons

• No refinancing options
• Can have higher interest rates
• Parent loans not available

Read Our Ascent Review

College Ave Student Loans

Trusted Company Reviews Rating Score for College Ave Student Loans:

College Ave Review

College Ave provides loans to undergraduates, graduate students, parent loans, refinancing, and offers a credit card. The company works with borrowers in all 50 states and you can find low fixed and variable interest rates with its loans. College Ave can require a minimum credit score of 680 or higher and you have to show an annual income minimum of $35,000 to qualify.

You can find benefits like scholarships and an autopay discount of 0.25% when you enter repayment. College Ave has four repayment options. They are full principal and interest payment, interest only payment, flat payment, and deferred payment. You can borrow up to $150,000 and refinance up to $300,000. Loan length limits are set at 15 years.

About College Ave

College Ave started operating in 2014 and has become known as a top private student loan lender resource. College Ave offers loans through Evolve Bank & Trust and has several options. In addition to student loans, you can find scholarships, a student credit card, loan refinancing, and a wealth of resources on a number of student loan topics.

College Ave Features and Benefits

College Ave has slightly higher requirements to qualify for loans than competitors. Chief among them is the credit score and annual income requirement. Unlike other lenders, College Ave does not offer variable interest rates.

• Can require credit score of 680 or higher
• Requires minimum of $35,000 in annual income
• Parent loans available
• Autopay discount available
• Offers fixed payments
• No application or origination fees

Why We Chose College Ave

We ranked College Ave as one of the best private student loan providers because it has excellent customer service, flexible repayment terms, and it’s easy to use. The low fixed rates make it an attractive loan option. Plus, College Ave has high borrowing limits and refinancing limits to help you finance graduate degree programs, which can lead to higher costs. You can also choose a co-signer loan option, if you can’t meet the qualification standards.

College Ave Pros and Cons

Pros

• Offers loans for associate degrees and career education
• Loan terms up to 20 years
• Loans available for those attending college at least half-time.

Cons

• Requires a degree for refinancing
• Can require higher credit scores for approval
• Minimum refinance amount is $5,000

Read Our College Ave Review

MEFA Student Loans

Trusted Company Reviews Rating Score for MEFA Student Loans & Refinancing: 9.3

MEFA Review

Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) rates high across review sites for its straightforward process and favorable rates. It provides loans across all 50 states to students in need of educational funding. MEFA also provides a wealth of resources to help with financial aid and tips on funding a college education. You can also find refinancing through the company and it offers college saving programs. Students in grades 6-12 can use MEFA Pathway to help plan for college and a future career.

About MEFA

MEFA started in 1982 and has become one of the most trusted private student loan providers in that time. Loans can start at $1,500 and range to the total cost of educational expenses after subtracting any financial aid. MEFA doesn’t charge loan fees or late fees. You can also defer loan repayments for up to five years for undergraduate degrees and three years for graduate student loans.

MEFA Features and Benefits

MEFA has low interest student loans and refinancing rates. It does require a credit check to loans while you’re attending college and you need to repay loans for at least a year before you can refinance loans.
No variable interest rates

• Co-signer release available after 48 months on some loans
• One year of payments required for refinancing
• Rates run between 5.75% and 8.95%
• No application or origination fees
• Credit check required for in-school loans

Why We Chose MEFA

We included MEFA on our list of the best private student loan providers because it has a more comprehensive and altruistic approach to lending. The site offers a lot of advice on borrowing and tools for college and career planning so those loans get used wisely. You do have four repayment options to ease the burden of student loans following graduation.

MEFA Pros and Cons

Pros

• Low interest rates
• Six-month grace period
• Four repayment options

Cons

• No fixed repayment option
• Limited loan terms
• Refinancing minimum is $10,000

Read Our MEFA Review

ELFI Student Loans

Trusted Company Reviews Rating Score for ELFI Student Loan & Refinance: 8.8

ELFI Review

Education Loan Finance (ELFI) ranks among the top private student loan servicers in the market because of its smooth lending process and competitive rates. Across review sites, it enjoys a 4.8 rating out of five stars. You can find low interest rates for student loans, and ELFI also has a spot on our list of best student loan refinancing options.

About ELFI

ELFI has operated since 2015 as a student loan provider. The program is offered through SouthEast Bank, which is based in Tennessee. You can apply for private student loans and loan refinancing through ELFI.

The site connects you with a student loan advisor to help you navigate the available loan offers. Working with ELFI won’t impact your credit score and you won’t pay any application or loan origination fee.

ELFI Features and Benefits

ELFI has four repayment options including: immediate, interest only, fixed, and deferred. It has a low fixed APR for undergraduate degrees but requires a minimum annual income of $35,000 and a credit score of 680 or higher. You also need at least 36 months of credit history. ELFI does extend a referral bonus of $400 for every new borrower you refer that is later approved.

• Need at least 36 months of credit history
• Requires credit score of 680 or higher
• $35,000 annual income needed
• Hardship payment deferral up to 12 months available
• Offers fixed loan repayments
• Highly rated

Why We Chose ELFI

ELFI extends its services across all 50 states and Puerto Rico. It sports high ratings across review sites and has rates that fall in line with competitors. The site has more stringent requirements than other lenders, but it also partners with businesses to help employees with student loan debt. You can refinance student loans with ELFI, and you have a six-month grace period before you have to begin repaying loans.

ELFI Pros and Cons

Pros

• No credit check pre-qualifying
• Multiple term lengths
• Offers parent loans

Cons

• Shorter loan terms
• Has a 5% or $50 fee for late payments
• Requires a bachelor’s degree for refinancing

Read Our ELFI Review

Image Sources: credible.com – ascentfunding.com – collegeave.com – mefa.org – elfi.com

Methodology

Here are the criteria we used to qualify and rate each company in our review as well as the ones that didn’t make the list.

Interest Rates and Terms:

• Evaluate the competitiveness of the interest rates offered, both fixed and variable.
• Review the terms available, focusing on the range and flexibility, including options for longer repayment terms.

Fees and Penalties:

• Assess any additional costs, such as origination fees, late fees, and prepayment penalties.
• Consider the transparency and fairness of these fees.

Repayment Options:

• Examine the variety of repayment plans available, including deferment options while in school and grace periods post-graduation.
• Check for repayment assistance programs, such as income-based repayment or financial hardship forbearance.

Loan Amounts and Coverage:

• Analyze the minimum and maximum loan amounts and ensure they cover the full cost of attendance minus other aid.
• Look at what expenses are covered by the loan, such as tuition, room and board, books, and other educational expenses.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Review the eligibility requirements, noting if they are inclusive or restrictive. Criteria may include credit score, income, school, course of study, and citizenship or residency status.

Cosigner Terms and Release Options:

• Check for the requirements for cosigners and the availability of cosigner release options after a set number of on-time payments.

Customer Service:

• Evaluate the quality of customer service, including the availability of advisors, responsiveness, and the range of support options (phone, email, live chat).

Application and Disbursement Process:

• Assess the ease of the application process, including online capabilities, clarity of instructions, and processing speed.
• Consider how quickly and efficiently funds are disbursed to the educational institution.

Borrower Benefits and Incentives:

• Look for benefits such as interest rate reductions for automatic payments, loyalty discounts, or rewards for good grades.
• Evaluate any additional support or resources provided to borrowers, such as financial education or career services.

Transparency and Educational Resources:

• Measure how well the lender educates borrowers about the borrowing process and the long-term implications of student debt.
• Ensure that all terms and conditions are communicated clearly and comprehensively.