6 Best Companies for Refinancing Medical School Loans of December 2023
Refinancing medical school loans is a no-brainer for physicians who won’t use federal loan benefits and have good enough credit to qualify for a lower interest rate.
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Doctors can refinance medical school loans during residency or wait until they become attending physicians. Refinancing early can make a big difference, provided you don't need federal student loan benefits like Public Service Loan Forgiveness or income-driven repayment.
Our picks for refinancing medical student loans during and after residency are below, as well as information that can help you decide which is right for you.
Best Companies for Refinancing Medical School Loans
Lender | NerdWallet Rating | Min. credit score | Fixed APR | Variable APR | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Splash Financial Student Loan Refinance Check rateon Splash Financial's website on Splash Financial's website | 5.0 /5 | 650 | 5.34-8.73% | 7.35-7.35% | Check rateon Splash Financial's website on Splash Financial's website |
5.0 /5 | None | 5.24-9.99% | 6.24-9.99% | Check rateon SoFi's website on SoFi's website | |
5.0 /5 | 650 | 5.44-9.99% | 5.97-9.99% | Check rateon Earnest's website on Earnest's website |
Our pick for
Refinancing during residency
Splash Financial Student Loan Refinance
650
5.34-8.73%
7.35-7.35%
- Select from multiple repayment options between 5 and 25 years.
- You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.
- Loan features vary by lender.
- Forbearance and death discharge may not be available.
- You may need to become a member of a credit union to qualify.
- Splash Financial currently does not offer variable rates or accept co-signers through NerdWallet.
- Typical credit score of approved borrowers or co-signers: 700+.
- Loan amounts: $10,000 to $500,000.
- Must have a degree: Yes, a bachelor’s degree or higher.
SoFi Parent PLUS Refinancing
None
5.24-9.99%
6.24-9.99%
Minimum payment during residency: $100/month.
- You can refinance parent PLUS loans in your name.
- You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.
- Additional perks like career planning, job search assistance and entrepreneurship support available.
- No co-signer release available.
- Loan size minimum is higher than most lenders.
- Typical credit score of approved borrowers or co-signers: 700+.
- Loan amounts: $5,000, up to your total outstanding loan balance.
- Must have a degree: Yes, an associate degree or higher.
Laurel Road Student Loan Refinance
660
5.74-10.99%
5.49-10.89%
Minimum payment during residency: $100/month.
- You can refinance parent PLUS loans in your name.
- Refinancing available for medical and dental residents.
- You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.
- Payment postponement isn’t available if borrowers return to school.
- Typical credit score of approved borrowers or co-signers: Did not disclose.
- Loan amounts: $5,000 up to your total outstanding loan balance.
- Must have a bachelor's degree. For parent PLUS loans, the child does not need to have graduated to refinance.
- You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.
- You can refinance without a degree.
- You can refinance while in school or during a medical residency.
- Interest rates vary by refi product.
- Typical credit score of approved borrowers or co-signers: Approximately 750.
- Loan amounts: $5,000 to $300,000. (Minimum for California residents is $10,000.)
- Must have a degree: No.
Our pick for
Refinancing after residency
Earnest Student Loan Refinance
650
5.44-9.99%
5.97-9.99%
- Customizable payments and loan terms.
- Option to skip one payment every 12 months.
- You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.
- Loans aren't available in Nevada.
- Typical credit score of approved borrowers or co-signers: 760.
- Loan amounts: $5,000 to $500,000.
- Must have a degree: No, but must be within six months of graduation and have income or a job.
Laurel Road Student Loan Refinance
660
5.74-10.99%
5.49-10.89%
Laurel Road offers special pricing to physicians. This is not a set interest rate discount, but rates may be lower than what the lender advertises
- You can refinance parent PLUS loans in your name.
- Refinancing available for medical and dental residents.
- You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.
- Payment postponement isn’t available if borrowers return to school.
- Typical credit score of approved borrowers or co-signers: Did not disclose.
- Loan amounts: $5,000 up to your total outstanding loan balance.
- Must have a bachelor's degree. For parent PLUS loans, the child does not need to have graduated to refinance.
College Ave Student Loan Refinance
Mid-600s
6.99-11.99%
6.99-11.99%
- You can choose any loan term between 5 and 15 years.
- You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.
- No co-signer release available.
- Students cannot refinance a parent PLUS loan in their name.
- Typical credit score of approved borrowers or co-signers: Mid-700s.
- Loan amounts: $5,000 to $300,000, depending on the highest degree earned.
- Must have a degree: Yes, an associate degree or higher.
- You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.
- You can refinance without a degree.
- You can refinance while in school or during a medical residency.
- Interest rates vary by refi product.
- Typical credit score of approved borrowers or co-signers: Approximately 750.
- Loan amounts: $5,000 to $300,000. (Minimum for California residents is $10,000.)
- Must have a degree: No.
Should you refinance medical school loans?
Refinancing is one of several strategies for paying off medical school debt. The best option for you will depend on factors like the type of loans you have — federal or private — and your career goals.
If you have federal loans, consider refinancing if you won’t need an income-driven repayment plan and don’t plan to pursue medical school loan forgiveness. While there are several forgiveness programs, only federal loans qualify for the widest available one: Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
If you borrowed private medical school loans, there’s little downside to refinancing if you can qualify for a lower interest rate. That may be during your residency, when you become an attending physician or both.
Refinancing medical school loans during residency
Student loans can be a financial burden while you’re making less money as a resident. You have two primary options to help manage those payments:
Use a federal income-driven repayment plan. This could shrink your federal loan payments to as little as $0 during residency, depending on your income. Opting for income-driven repayment can make sense if you want to keep your options open post-graduation — to pursue nonprofit work or a lower-paying career, for example — or you can’t meet a refinance lender’s financial criteria.
Refinance during your residency. A few lenders have specific refinancing programs for medical residents. These let you pay as little as $100 a month before full payments start once your residency ends. Consider this option if refinancing medical school loans fits your long-term career goals and you can qualify for a lower interest rate while you’re a resident — you may need a co-signer to do that.
No matter which strategy you choose, interest will likely accrue faster than you can pay it — so you may end up with a balance at the end of your residency that's bigger than what you started with. Making larger-than-minimum payments can help keep the interest at bay.
» MORE: PAYE vs. REPAYE: How to choose
Refinancing medical school loans after residency
If you choose not to refinance during your residency, use that time to work on building your credit so you can get the best possible rate in the future. Refinance as soon as you can qualify to save the most money.
For example, refinancing $201,490 — the average medical school debt in 2019 — from a 7% APR to a 5% APR would save about $200 a month and more than $24,200 total. But that assumes you have 10 years left on your loan term. If you waited a couple years, your potential savings will shrink.
As your income continues to grow, you'll likely have more refinancing options and be eligible for lower interest rates. It can make sense to refinance medical school loans multiple times because lenders typically don’t charge fees to do so, meaning you start saving right away.
How to refinance medical school loans
Confirm that refinancing is right for you. Before refinancing federal student loans, triple-check that you are comfortable giving up federal loan benefits including access to Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income-driven repayment plans. If you have a mix of federal and private student loans and want to maintain access to those programs, refinance just the private loans.
Check if you qualify. You generally need a credit score that's at least in the high 600s to qualify for student loan refinancing. The higher your score, the lower the rate you'll likely get. Some lenders have pre-qualification processes that allow you to see a personalized rate before you officially apply — they'll do a soft credit pull, which won't hurt your credit score, to determine your rate.
Shop around and apply. Get rate estimates from multiple lenders and choose the one that offers you the lowest rate.
Consolidating medical school loans
Refinancing at a lower interest rate is only possible with private lenders. Some may refer to their products as med school consolidation loans, but private consolidation loans and refinancing are the same thing.
Federal consolidation, like refinancing, can combine your loans into a single loan. But you can only consolidate your med school debt with the government if you have federal student loans.
Medical student debt consolidation won’t save you money; your interest rate will be the weighted average of your original loans. But consolidation can make sense as a loan management strategy. For example, you may want to take this step before pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness — that way you’ll only have to track a single loan payment.
STUDENT LOAN REFINANCE RATINGS METHODOLOGY
Our survey of more than 29 banks, credit unions and online lenders offering student loans and student loan refinancing includes the top 10 lenders by market share and the top 10 lenders by online search volume, as well as lenders that serve specialty or nontraditional markets.
We consider 41 features and data points for each financial institution. Depending on the category, these include the availability of biweekly payments through autopay, minimum credit score and income requirement disclosures, availability to borrowers in all states, extended grace periods and in-house customer service.
The stars represent ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars). Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star.
Read more about our ratings methodologies for student loan refinance and our editorial guidelines.
Last updated on September 12, 2023
NerdWallet's Best Companies for Refinancing Medical School Loans of December 2023
- Splash Financial Student Loan Refinance: Best for Refinancing during residency
- SoFi Parent PLUS Refinancing: Best for Refinancing during residency
- Earnest Student Loan Refinance: Best for Refinancing after residency
- Laurel Road Student Loan Refinance: Best for Refinancing during residency + Refinancing after residency
- ISL Refinance Loan: Best for Refinancing during residency + Refinancing after residency
- College Ave Student Loan Refinance: Best for Refinancing after residency
Frequently asked questions
- Who should refinance medical school loans?
Consider refinancing medical school loans if you know you won’t use federal loan benefits — or if you already have private student loans — and your credit is good enough to lower your interest rate.
- When can you refinance medical school loans?
Some lenders let you refinance during your medical residency, while others make you wait until you’re an attending. Based on your long-term plans, consider refinancing during your residency and after.
- How much can physicians save by refinancing?
Savings will vary based on your loan terms. By refinancing $201,490 — the average medical school debt in 2019 — from a 7% APR to a 5% APR, you would save about $200 a month and more than $24,200 total over a 10-year term.
- Can you consolidate medical school loans?
You can consolidate medical school loans if they're federal student loans. Federal loan consolidation lets you make a single payment, but it won't decrease your interest rate or save you money like refinancing.
