5 Lenders That Will Refinance Student Loans for Borrowers With No Degree

How refinancing can save you money

Refinancing can save you money by replacing your current debt with a new, lower-rate loan through a private lender.

For example, refinancing $30,000 in student debt from an annual percentage rate of 8% to 6% could drop a monthly payment from $364 to $333 and reduce interest paid by $3,711. Or you could keep payments the same as before and be debt-free 13 months sooner.

You can refinance both federal and private student loans.

If you have federal loans, there's a downside to refinancing with a private lender: You forfeit your rights to federal loan repayment options, such as income-driven repayment and public service loan forgiveness.

Qualifying for refinancing

Although some refinancing lenders don’t require you to have a degree, you still need to meet certain qualifications.

You usually have to have attended a school that offers federal student aid, known as a Title IV school, even if you didn’t graduate.

Lenders will assess your credit score, which will have to be in the high 600s or higher. They’ll also want to make sure you have a stable financial history and a healthy income. Borrowers with higher incomes have an easier time getting approved for refinancing and tend to get the best interest rates.

If you don’t meet these qualifications, you’ll need a co-signer who does. Consider lenders that offer a co-signer release, which allows your co-signer to get off the hook for your debt after a certain period of on-time payments.

If you don’t qualify for refinancing

If you can’t qualify for refinancing and are having trouble making payments on federal loans, apply for an income-driven repayment plan. These plans cap payments at a percentage of your income and extend repayment length.

To enroll in an income-driven plan, you may need to first consolidate your federal loans into one new federal direct loan. Consolidation won’t lower your interest rate like refinancing does. However, it could lower payment amounts by extending the repayment term.

If you have private loans that you can’t refinance, contact your lender to see what repayment options are available to struggling borrowers. You may be able to renegotiate the terms of your loan or lower payments for a period of time. Lenders also usually offer hardship forbearance, which halts payments on loans temporarily while interest continues to build.

STUDENT LOAN REFINANCE RATINGS METHODOLOGY

Our survey of more than 26 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.