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Can You Refinance Student Loans?
You can refinance student loans by meeting a lender’s financial and educational criteria.
Ryan Lane Assigning Editor | Small business, student loans
Ryan Lane is an editor on NerdWallet’s small-business team. He joined NerdWallet in 2019 as a student loans writer, serving as an authority on that topic after spending more than a decade at student loan guarantor American Student Assistance. In that role, Ryan co-authored the Student Loan Ranger blog in partnership with U.S. News & World Report, as well as wrote and edited content about education financing and financial literacy for multiple online properties, e-courses and more. Ryan also previously oversaw the production of life science journals as a managing editor for publisher Cell Press. Ryan is located in Rochester, New York.
Des Toups Lead Assigning Editor | Student loans, repaying college debt, paying for college
Des Toups was a lead assigning editor who supported the student loans and auto loans teams. He had decades of experience in personal finance journalism, exploring everything from car insurance to bankruptcy to couponing to side hustles.
Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.
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You can refinance student loans if you meet a lender’s eligibility criteria. Requirements vary by lender, but you or a co-signer will typically need the following to qualify:
Eligible student loans.
A credit score in at least the high 600s.
Enough income to afford all your debts.
A degree from a qualifying college.
Get accurate refinance options in just 2 minutes with Credible
Compare pre-qualified rates from multiple lenders with no impact to your credit score.
Many lenders will prequalify you for student loan refinancing via a soft credit check. This won’t affect your credit score and will let you know if you can refinance student loans before you officially apply.
You can refinance both federal and private student loans — even if you’ve previously consolidated or refinanced them. There’s no limit on the number of times you can refinance.
Not all lenders will refinance federal PLUS loans, but the majority do. Fewer let you transfer a parent PLUS loan into the child’s name. If that’s your goal, check that the lender allows it before you apply.
You can’t transfer private loans to the federal government; you can only refinance with a private lender. That means you’ll lose access to programs like income-driven repayment and loan forgiveness by refinancing federal student loans. Consider whether you’ll need these options before refinancing.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
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NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
Whether you’re refinancing federal student loans, private student loans or a mix of both, lenders are looking for borrowers who have:
Good credit. You typically need a credit score that’s in at least the high 600s. Many lenders cater to borrowers who have scores in the 700s or higher. If you have bad credit, you may still be able to refinance with a co-signer who meets the lender's criteria.
A history of on-time loan payments. Lenders will likely dig into your credit report to find evidence that you’ve paid your debts regularly in the past.
Lenders will have other eligibility criteria as well. For example, most won’t approve non-U.S. citizens or permanent residents without a co-signer. Prodigy Finance is a notable exception, offering refinancing to international working graduates in the United States.
Can you refinance student loans while still in school?
Most lenders won’t let you refinance student loans while you’re still in school. If a lender does allow this, you may need to be close to graduation to qualify and will likely have to start repayment immediately.
Typically, you must have already finished or left college to refinance your loans. And some lenders require you to have graduated with at least a bachelor’s degree. Most refinance lenders also won’t accept applicants who didn’t attend a school authorized to receive federal aid dollars.
For most people, refinancing after finishing school makes sense: It gives you some time to land a job and build the credit and payment record needed to qualify for the best possible rate.
If you have great credit and quickly find a job after graduation that more than covers your bills, it can make sense to refinance as soon as possible. The earlier you get a lower rate, the more you stand to save.