Best Student Loan Refinancing for Parents

How we picked the student loans to evaluate:

NerdWallet reviewed 29 banks, credit unions and online lenders offering student loans and student loan refinancing. We included 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. Some lenders are NerdWallet partners, but this did not influence our selection of the winner.

How we chose the winner:

NerdWallet scored lenders that offer student loan refinancing products for the presence of 41 features across multiple categories. Categories were scored and weighted as follows:
  • Features that enable faster repayment, such as availability of extra payments or biweekly payments via autopay - 15%.
  • Disclosure of rates, fees and underwriting requirements, such as minimum credit scores and income standards - 20%.
  • Availability to a wide range of borrowers, such as part-time and independent students - 20%.
  • Flexible payment options, such as grace periods and available forbearance that are longer than standard - 25%.
  • Customer support, such as a detailed website FAQ and in-house customer service - 20%.
After those calculations, NerdWallet screened for lenders that refinance Parent PLUS loans and offer refinancing in the student's name. The financial institution with the highest overall score would be selected as the winner.

How we verified our data:

NerdWallet writers and editors sent a comprehensive list of more than 50 questions to all lenders we reviewed. We cross-checked fees, rates, policies and other key features on each financial institution’s website. If a lender’s website was missing information, we contacted a representative directly for confirmation. At least three members of our staff verified the scores and ratings we gave to lenders.

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