Best Companies for Refinancing Medical School Loans of July 2026
Refinancing medical school loans makes sense for physicians who won’t use federal loan benefits and have good enough credit to qualify for a lower interest rate.
Doctors can refinance medical school loans during residency or wait until they become an attending physician. Refinancing earlier can lower monthly payments during a cash-strapped residency, but the lowest interest rate is often available after becoming an attending, when income and credit profile improve.
But before choosing when to refinance, decide whether to at all: only private lenders offer refinancing, and moving federal loans to one eliminates access to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and income-driven repayment, so be sure you won't need either program. If you think refinancing is the right step for you, here are our picks for the best lenders to refinance medical student loans.
Note that interest rates and qualifications shown are for each lender's standard student loan refinancing product. Rates and qualifications may be different for refinancing medical school loans.
Why trust NerdWallet
- 17 student loans lenders reviewed and rated by our team of experts.
- 10+ years of combined experience covering higher education and consumer lending.
- Objective, comprehensive star-rating system assessing 41 categories and more than 50 data points across student loan origination and student loan refinance.
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Why trust NerdWallet
- 17 student loans lenders reviewed and rated by our team of experts.
- 10+ years of combined experience covering higher education and consumer lending.
- Objective, comprehensive star-rating system assessing 41 categories and more than 50 data points across student loan origination and student loan refinance.
- Governed by NerdWallet's strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
Best Companies for Refinancing Medical School Loans
Lender | NerdWallet editorial rating | Min. credit score | Fixed APR | Variable APR | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.0 /5 | 650 | 3.74-9.79% | 5.68-9.79% | Check Rate on Earnest's website | |
4.5 /5 | None | 3.99-9.99% | 5.74-9.99% | Check Rate on SoFi®'s website | |
4.0 /5 | 680 | 4.29-8.44% | 4.74-8.24% | Check Rate on ELFI's website | |
4.0 /5 | 680 | 4.39-9.24% | 4.18-6.23% | Check Rate on LendKey's website | |
3.5 /5 | Does not disclose | 5.73-10.29% | 6.01-11.29% | Read Review on NerdWallet |
Our pick for
refinancing after residency
2026 Best Student Loan Refinancing
Overall
- 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.
- Customizable payments and loan terms.
- Eligible borrowers can skip one payment every 12 months.
- You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.
- Won’t allow you to transfer parent loans to your name.
- Typical credit score of approved borrowers: Does not disclose.
- Loan amounts: $10,000 with no maximum.
- Must have a degree: Yes, must have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher.
- Has a 0.25-percentage-point rate discount with automatic payments.
- Allows borrowers to pre-qualify with a soft credit check.
- No application, origination or prepayment fees.
- Assigns a dedicated student loan advisor.
- Charges a late payment fee, whereas some competitors do not.
- The minimum loan amount is higher than many other lenders require.
- Typical credit score of approved borrowers: Does not disclose.
- Loan amounts: $5,000 to $250,000.
- Must have a degree: Yes, must have at least an associate degree.
- Allows borrowers to pre-qualify with a soft credit check (only for refi loans).
- Has a 0.25-percentage-point rate discount with automatic payments.
- Enables borrowers to shop multiple lenders with one application.
- Refinance loans not available in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, Rhode Island or West Virginia.
Our pick for
refinancing during residency
- You can see if you’ll qualify and what rate you’ll get without a hard credit check.
- Dedicated Student Loan Debt Specialist available for borrowers.
- No co-signer release available.
- Loan size minimum is higher than most lenders.
- Typical credit score of approved borrowers: Does not disclose.
- Loan amounts: Need a minimum student loan balance of $10,000 in order to refinance, and a maximum loan amount of $300,000 for a bachelor's degree, $500,000 for a graduate degree and $750,000 for a professional degree.
- Must have a degree: Must have a bachelor’s degree or higher to be eligible.
- Citizens Bank offers refinancing loan terms between five and 20 years.
- Applicants can learn their rate in just a few minutes with no hard credit pull.
- Co-signers are allowed but not required.
- Extra payments are applied to the principal balance, which can help borrowers pay down their loan faster than if extra payments were applied to the interest.
- International and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students can qualify with a citizen or resident co-signer.
- In order to refinance a loan, applicants must earn at least $24,000 in income.
- Late fees are charged for payments made after 15 days of the due date.
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 student loans, consider refinancing if you won’t need income-driven repayment and don’t plan to pursue medical school loan forgiveness. While there are several forgiveness programs, only federal loans qualify for the one that's most widely available: Public Service Loan Forgiveness or PSLF.
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 federal income-driven repayment. This could shrink your federal loan payments 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 make a lower monthly payment before full payments start when 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. Though, 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 manage the interest.
Refinancing medical school loans after residency
If you choose not to refinance during your residency, you can 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 $297,745 — the median four-year medical school cost of attendance for the class of 2026 at a public school — from a 8% APR to a 5% APR would save about $454 a month and more than $54,500 total. But that assumes you have 10 years left on your loan term. If you waited a couple years, your potential savings would 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.
How to refinance medical school loans
The process to refinance your loan will look similar with most lenders. Here are the steps you need to follow.
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 PSLF and income-driven repayment. If you have a mix of federal and private student loans and want to maintain access to those programs, refinance just the private loans.
Shop multiple lenders. Look for lenders that allow you to pre-qualify, so you can get an idea of whether you will qualify and an estimated rate. The pre-qualification process uses a soft credit pull, so it won't affect your credit score. You generally need a credit score that's at least in the mid-600s or higher to qualify for student loan refinancing. The higher your score, the lower the rate you're likely to get.
Apply to refinance. When you've found the lowest rate possible, submit your application. Be aware that the lender will do a hard credit inquiry at this point, which will temporarily lower your credit score. Also, if what the lender finds in your credit file doesn't match what you submitted during pre-qualification, your estimated rate could change.
» MORE: Best lenders to refinance vet school loans
Consolidating medical school loans
Refinancing 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 PSLF — that way you’ll only have to track a single loan payment.
Last updated on July 16, 2026
Frequently asked questions
Who should refinance medical school loans?
Consider refinancing medical school loans if you know you won’t use federal student 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 physician. 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 term. By refinancing $297,745 — the median four-year medical school cost of attendance for the class of 2026 at a public school — from an 8% APR to a 5% APR would save about $454 a month and more than $54,500 total. But that assumes you have 10 years left on your loan term. Waiting a few years to refinance would shrink your savings.
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.
How we chose the best student loans
Our team of student loan experts follows an objective and robust methodology to rate lenders and pick the best.
20
Providers reviewed
20
Providers reviewed
We reviewed 20 banks, credit unions and online lenders — including the top by market share and search volume — plus lenders serving niche and nontraditional borrowers.
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Categories designated
Each lender is evaluated across weighted categories, covering dozens of features related to flexibility, affordability, availability, transparency and customer experience.
40+
Data points analyzed
40+
Data points analyzed
Our team tracks and reassesses more than 40 data points annually, including APR ranges, fees, credit requirements and borrower tools, ensuring up to date, accurate comparisons.
Star rating categories
We evaluate more categories than competitors and carefully weigh how each factor impacts your experience.
5.0
Overall score
NerdWallet reviewed 20 banks, credit unions and online lenders offering student loans and student loan refinancing. We included the top lenders by market share and 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.
Within weighted categories, we consider dozens of features and more than 40 data points for each financial institution. Depending on the category, these may include the availability of bi-weekly payments through autopay, minimum credit score and income requirement disclosures, availability to a wide range of 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 loans and our editorial guidelines.
NerdWallet's Best Companies for Refinancing Medical School Loans of July 2026
- Earnest: Best for refinancing after residency, Fixed APR: 3.74-9.79%
- SoFi®: Best for refinancing during residency, Fixed APR: 3.99-9.99%
- ELFI: Best for refinancing after residency, Fixed APR: 4.29-8.44%
- LendKey: Best for refinancing after residency, Fixed APR: 4.39-9.24%
- Citizens: Best for refinancing during residency, Fixed APR: 5.73-10.29%